The Originals
by Imagination Is A Gift
Summary: TO Season 3 re-written. When Katherine Pierce shows up in New Orleans, things get complicated between the Mikaelson brothers. And a new enemy that follows her, might just bring the end of them all. When Caroline arrives in New Orleans (kicking and screaming) and then decides to stay, things begin to get just a little cheerier around the place. Kalijah and Klaroline. Rated M.
1. Prologue

**Prologue – The Originals 3x01**

 _The child's name is Hope. Elijah had a fling with the mother after she was born but Hayley married Jackson, to become alpha to their packs. They were both cursed, by the way, so they're wolves until the full moon. Then there's Davina, the super-powerful teenage witch, who's angry at the Mikaelsons. She fancies Kol. And Klaus is in therapy with a blonde bartender. Marcel controls the Quarter, but I'm guessing you already know who he is?_

She read the text and rolled her eyes, typing back quickly: _Enough about the entourage. What's the status with the Mikaelson's?_

There was a pause before the reply came.

 _Rebekah's in the body of a witch, trying to resurrect Kol. She should be easy to manage, since she's weak and busy. I don't think she's in the quarter, though. Freya, the new one, is a witch too. Again, easy to handle, not a problem. Elijah's pissed at Klaus for cursing Hayley, and for killing Gia, his girlfriend. He's probably looking for a way to hurt Klaus, which could play on your fortune._

She read the text and blinked, tapping her heel on the concrete beneath her. She was leaning against the stolen black Porsche and watching the cars pass by. If anyone was asked to identify her, they'd say she was young, beautiful, with almond eyes and curly brunette hair. Opaque tights producing from her black trench coat, concealing her short pencil skirt almost entirely, with black wedges. Not herself for definite, but one of the Originals would probably recognise the description.

 _And Klaus?_ She texted back.

 _Worried about his daughter. Planning on reuniting his siblings. Surprisingly chill._

She nodded. If she was ever going to enter New Orleans, now would be the perfect time. The family was divided but not at war. The hybrid girl was out of the picture for the meantime. They were all too focused on a baby than anything else.

And Klaus had a therapist.

Yeah, now was perfect.

 _Thank you, Josh. I'll see you soon._

Katherine Pierce slipped her phone back into her pocket and stepped back into her car. She passed the 'Welcome to New Orleans' sign and groaned. The things she had to do for her freedom terrified her.

But it had to be done.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay, so I read this theory on Tumblr, about Nina leaving TVD because of Ian (idk if it's true and tbh I don't really care because I don't watch it anymore) but it got me thinking. Instead of leaving all together, what if she moved to The Originals, as Katherine? And then this became a daydream of mine for like, two or three months and I was like "Why am I not writing this?!" So here, we go. Lot's of Kalijah, and Klaroline join in later because I'm incapable of writing a TVD/TO story without KC. Although, I could only bring them in at a time that made sense to the verses, so she officially comes into the story in Chapter 8 (not including prologue) so I'm going to update twice a week until that point.**

 **Oh, and there will be smut, but only when it makes sense to the story.**

 **Enjoy! -Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter One – The Originals 3x02**

Elijah followed the voice, yelling for Hayley's name, walking through the dark forest with his niece in his arm. "Where the hell is Hayley?" Jackson demanded. He was against a tree, bleeding profusely and desperately crying out the name of his wife. Elijah turned to face him, shieling Hope's view from her bloody stepfather.

Her mother was officially missing, and now, she was supposedly on the hunt for her.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Hayley was trapped in a circle of salt that Davina had entombed her in. She yelled angrily and hit the air around her, wincing slightly it the resulting clashes. Damn that witch bitch!

She clutched at the sheet still wrapped around her and looked around angrily as her enemy arrived. "Davina. Let me out of here right now, or I swear I will kill you."

"You can try," Davina jested, throwing clothes down at her feet and wiggling a blood bag in front of her. "Or we can have a polite conversation."

"You kidnapped me on the one night I get to see my daughter. Do not talk to me about polite."

"I drew you here to help you," Davina insisted, looking smug.

Hayley sneered, furiously. Davina was a damn child. Who the hell said she got to make the condescending, cruel rules? "Elijah asked you months ago, to break the curse and you said _no_."

Davina looked bored of explaining it. "The region of witches can't be seen doing favours for the Mikaelsons. But maybe we can help each other." She threw the blood bag down and Hayley snatched it up, hungrily draining it. "I can channel the power of the one who cursed you. You can be free, Hayley."

"Under your terms, I'm guessing?" Hayley said, growling as she finished the blood bag. She got to her feet and wiped the little extra blood from the die of her lip, studying Davina with a scowl. "Just tell me who you want dead."

* * *

Elijah ignored Jacksons groans of pain as he cut the bullet out of his chest for him. Hope sat in her pram a few feet away and Elijah couldn't help regret bringing her. Was this her life from now on? Watching people bleed, and fire guns, and her family kill?

If she was raised in an environment even worse than her father's, then how would she turn out as an adult? As a hormonal teen? He clicked his tongue as he considered this and threw the bullet away.

He sighed and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt, holding his wrist out to Jackson. "Take my blood," he recommended. He needed the wolf boy to be fit enough to find Hayley while he took Hope home.

Jackson just looked disgusted. "I'm good," he snapped. "We need to find Hayley."

"There's still no sign of her," Elijah said. "I've seen the bodies."

"They set up traps all over the bayou," Jackson informed him, looking disgusted and beat. "Mowed us all down with gunfire. Any wolf what wasn't taken out scattered. If Hayley turned back, then nothing would stop her from seeing that little girl. Something's wrong."

"Well, obviously," Elijah said, rolling his eyes as he quickly formulated a plan. He sent a quick text to Rebekah, asking her to do a search for Lucien Castle immediately. Then he hitched Hope up on his torso and watched Jackson throw a shirt back on. "I need to get Hope back to the city," he told him. "You take your time to get back yourself, and I'll text you the address."

"I don't have my phone anymore," Jackson said. "Being a wolf for a few months made it slightly hard to keep my bills paid. Besides, you can't well flash away with the little girl. We might as well walk back together."

Elijah scowled at the very idea, but relented. It was a twenty-minute walk back to his car. He lay down a towel in the shotgun seat, so Jackson didn't bleed all over the seat and strapped Hope safely in the back. It was a further ten-minute drive back to the city, when he was going as fast as was safe for the baby. The conversation was reserved to silence apart from Jackson occasionally spouting ideas about his wife's whereabouts.

The witches, the vampires, Klaus – all people who could have kidnapped her. Elijah simply rolled his eyes and ignored him.

Lucien has been in the city for a few days, he must have had something to do with the sudden disappearance of Hope's mother. Especially considering he was the CEO of the land-owning company that tore away part of the forest and hunted down the wolves.

He had done his research a little while before.

Elijah shared with Jackson what was necessary. That Lucien was an enemy and slightly involved. He didn't need to know any more than that.

When they got to the city, Freya texted him back with an address.

"He's residing just a few blocks away," Elijah claimed, pulling his car around the corner and putting in it park on the side of the road. "It'll be quicker for me to search the property before taking Hope home. You watch her."

Elijah climbed out of the car and audibly groaned when Jackson did the same. "I'm not sitting this one out," the wolf informed him, angrily. "Hayley's my wife, and you'll need a wolf to bite the sucker."

Elijah rolled his eyes and walked into the building. It was an expensive hotel with permanent living opportunities. The ground floor was lined with indoor palm trees, a reception and a bar.

"I'm older and stronger than you," Elijah said, "and somebody needs to watch Hope."

"Then you do it," Jackson snapped. He was carrying Hope with them, clearly waiting for Elijah to take his own niece. "I'll check out this Lucien guy."

"You're not nearly strong enough to get to him," Elijah claimed, angrily. "And I'm very capable of inflicting pain without wolf venom. Now go back to the car, and take care of Hope."

"Like I said," Jackson exclaimed. "I'm not sitting this one out."

"Maybe I can help," came a new voice.

No.

No, it couldn't be.

Elijah turned around abruptly to see the Petrova doppelganger, sitting quite comfortably at the hotel bar, her legs folded across each other as she sipped a martini. She was wearing a tight black trench coat with tights producing from the bottom, and wedges. Her hair was a curly and perfect as usual and she blinked seductively at them.

She was stunning, as ever.

"Who the hell are you?" Jackson asked, standing up straight. But she paid him no attention. She only gazed contently at Elijah, who ran to her, instantly scanning her. Human. Elena? Well Elena had been a vampire the last he saw her, but she must have taken the cure. But the coat, the stockings, the thick curly hair, the high shoes, and the lack of a Salvatore body guard… It couldn't be…

"Katerina," Elijah greeted, barely more than a whisper, stuck in a state of shock.

"Hello my lord," she replied, getting to her feet and reaching up to stroke his arm. "Miss me?"

There was a pause before Elijah spoke, never taking his eyes off Katerina. "Jackson, leave us," he ordered. "Wait by the reception." He waited until the wolf was out of earshot before letting his gaze turn into a glare. "What in God's name are you doing here?"

"Nothing in God's name, my dear, I promise," she smiled, fixing his crooked tie. "But it looks like you and the cute werewolf boy need another team player, and I came to help. Maybe I can take the baby home?"

Elijah grabbed her wrist when she went to skip past him. "I'm not letting you near Niklaus's daughter. Not after all he's done to you, and your passion for revenge."

She giggled and rolled her eyes. "Elijah, please. I didn't come to New Orleans to get myself killed. I need to speak to Klaus anyway, and we might as well be on good terms over the safety of his baby girl."

"You cannot speak to Klaus and expect to live!" Elijah exclaimed, outraged. "He won't think about sparing you for a second."

She scowled. "I also didn't come to New Orleans to be dictated by you," she snapped. "Now what can I do to help?"

"You can get out of the city," he ordered. "Now. Don't make me make you."

There was a pause as they stared each other down, both hoping the other would give in. "I'm not leaving without talking to Klaus," she insisted. "I'm not going to get myself killed. You need to trust me."

"Because you're so reliable," he spat, coldly.

She twisted her arm from his grip and straightened up. "Fine. Don't trust me with the kid's life. Because I like to kill babies for sport, sure. But trust me with my own life. I've always put it above everyone else's, haven't I?"

Elijah didn't reply straight away so she continued.

"If you leave me in charge with that kid, and she dies, then guess what? I'll die to. Be by you, or Klaus, or Hayley. I'm just looking for something to stop him from killing me before he hears what I have to say."

He sighed and held her arms again, this time tenderly. "Katerina, in the last few months he has tormented me. Killed those I cared about."

"Yeah, I heard about Gia, your little girlfriend," she replied. "Sorry, I guess."

"I'm not going to let him take you too," he told her, ignoring her patronising remark.

"Talking to Klaus will ensure my safety," she snapped. "I can't explain it, but I _need_ you to let me help."

There was a pause as he took a deep breath. "I'll take your word for it," he finally decided, against his better judgement. "The wolves were shot down by poachers, hired by land owning company. Lucien Castle is the CEO. Do you know him?"

She paused, nodding. "Yeah, I've heard of him. Him and Klaus go way back, right?"

Elijah nodded. "I need to know what he knows. I'll take Jackson with me to the penthouse. Take the child and get her to Bourbon Street. I'll message my sister, Freya, and tell her to meet you. Do not go to Klaus. If you do, I will know, and I will stop you."

Katherine nodded, thankfully. "Okay. I'll keep her safe."

Elijah sighed, looking at her and wondering if sending her off with a child was the safest option. "You have until the morning to tell me what you're planning, or I'll drag you out of New Orleans myself and compel you to get as far away as possible. Do you understand?"

Katherine just smiled. "Have fun with Jackson."

* * *

Katherine found Freya just on the corner of Bourbon Street. She was blonde, pretty and slender, and bore a slight resemblance to Klaus and Rebekah. She also seemed to recognise the baby, so Katherine allowed her to take control of the pram, and smiled at Freya's boy toy.

"Hey baby," Freya cooed, swaying slightly as she crouched down to her niece. "I know the forest is scary, but you're safe now."

"We should really get her home," Katherine said, faking concern. "Where is daddy living these days?"

Freya laughed, slightly. "Elijah said not to let you near Klaus until he gets here," she told her, without looking up from Hope. "I don't know why, but I'm guessing you're an old enemy of Klaus's."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "That's an understatement," she insisted, as Freya hiccoughed. "Hey, are you drunk or something?" There was a pause as Freya shook her head, angrily. Then she nodded. The boy she was with smirked slightly, the bulge in his pants showing clear excitement.

Katherine scowled. Great. She could leave Hope with her drunk aunt and fuck boy, and go and find Klaus, or she could send the boy home, sober Freya up, and put herself in Klaus's good books, for when they finally reunited.

"Okay, you're going to go home," she said to the boy. She didn't have compulsion anymore, but her regular glare worked. "And turn on your laptop, jacking off to the memory of the girl you almost took advantage of tonight." He looked awkward before scuttling away briskly. "You can thank me when you're sober," she said to Freya. "Now let's get some coffee in you."

They took refuge in a corner bar called Roseau's, sliding into a booth. Freya picked up Hope for a little while and rocked her to sleep. Katherine remained silent, apart from ordering two coffees from one of the waiters. Everyone ignored the baby in a bar. Maybe they all knew who the baby was, as their future queen. Maybe they just didn't care.

"So, what's the deal with you and Klaus?" Freya asked, tucking Hope back in and letting her sleep. "Elijah seems to care about your safety, but he seems to think Klaus wants you dead. How can anyone walk that fine line? Is it just based off what happened to Gia?"

Katherine paused before leaning forward. "What did happen to Gia? She's Elijah's ex, isn't she?"

Freya nodded. "She was a newbie vampire, and he taught her how to fight," she explained, sipping her drink. "Klaus compelled her to take off her daylight ring, holding Elijah still to watch. It was… horrible."

"Well Klaus has always been a colossal dick," Katherine mused. She clicked her tongue before sharing the basics. "I met them five hundred years ago. I fell for Elijah, but Klaus wanted to use me for a sacrifice. I'm something called a Petrova Doppelganger. They bickered about it and I ran. Klaus has been trying to kill me ever since."

"So why did you come back?" Freya asked. "For Elijah? Do you love him?"

Good question, and one she didn't quite know the answer to. She did love him. Not too long ago, really. It flickered on and off like a switch for five hundred years. Sometimes she'd fall back in love. Sometimes her fear and anger at him would take over, and convert her love to hate. But now? Now all she could think about was running. And she needed Klaus's help. She didn't want to stay in NOLA, not even for Elijah. But if she was going to be stuck there, then would she fall back in love?

Was she in love right now?

"Elijah's complicated," she answered. "I'm here for myself. I'm looking out for myself."

"By killing Klaus?" Freya asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'm not here to kill him. I have a gift for him. And if he excepts my gift, then he'll have to help me. If he doesn't… then I'm dead anyway. Might as well be by his hand."

"Klaus isn't in the habit of helping his enemies," Freya said, rocking the pram as Hope began to stir.

"I'm a special enemy," she replied. There was a pause as Katherine noticed the blonde bartender watching them. Mainly Freya and Hope, with her eyes narrowed into a glare. There was a pause before Katherine remembered her studies. "Is that Klaus's therapist?"

Freya looked up and nodded. "Yeah, that's Camille. She's okay. Probably just worried we'll start a fight with our magical powers."

"She won't tell Klaus I'm here, right?" Katherine checked. "I want to surprise him."

Freya snickered. "No, she's busy psycho-analysing a murder case," she replied. "I'd better get Hope home though. It's been a long night. Thanks for saving me from that guy."

"No problem," Katherine said as Freya stood up and left.

* * *

Freya went home to do some dumb tracking spell for Klaus, and put baby Hope to rest, finally. Elijah was still with Jackson doing whatever and not answering his phone, so Katherine started heading towards the nicest hotel, with what little cash she had. She'd been hoping to catch Klaus by the end of the night, and get a place to stay from him, but there was too much going on in the quarter to start a riot tonight. She'd offer Klaus her deal tomorrow, when things were quieter, and safer.

She discarded that thought however, when she found Hayley herself. She was staring at a woman closing a market stall, and began heading towards her. Quite human, quite healthy and quite safe. Katherine rolled her eyes at the Mikaelson worry and pulled out her phone to text Elijah.

But then she heard a loud crack and her head stood up. Hayley's neck was at a weird angle and her eyes were glowing yellow. Her arms began snapping too, her bones breaking. She was turning, without chains or a cellar, in a very public place. She fell to her knees in pain and Katherine looked for a place to run or hide from the nearing wolf.

Then, as quickly as it started, it stopped, and Hayley rubbed her neck.

Katherine jogged over to her and helped her get to her feet. "Are you okay? What the hell happened?"

Hayley just looked more confused. "Katherine? What are you doing here?" It was a fair question, since the two women hadn't spoken since Hayley played Katherine's bitch in Mystic Falls.

"It's complicated," she answered. "Why are you turning in the middle of the city?"

"Davina must have screwed up the spell," Hayley answered, gasping for breath. "That little bitch. She was trying to fix the curse."

Katherine was smart. She got the idea immediately. Davina, a witch, was helping a vampire. "What are you supposed to do in return?" Katherine asked.

Hayley just nodded to the woman she had been glaring at earlier. She flashed up to her, bit into her neck before snapping it, dropping her dead body like garbage. Then she turned back to Katherine and explained. "She hurt the brat's feelings. Now I gotta go kick her ass. You can tell me why you're here on the way."

She couldn't walk any further before yelping in pain again, her hands flying to her head as she crouched down, screaming.

Witches. They appeared out of nowhere, in a group, all with their hands outstretched. They silently surrounded her until she was a ball on the floor and Katherine stood watching. They paid no notice to her.

Good.

She reached into her handbag and pulled out a lady-grip gun, pointing it to all the witches individually and swatting them like flights. They dropped down, still in their perfect circle and started bleeding onto the pavement.

"Well, this will be one for Camille's psycho-analysation," she mused, blowing the tip of the hot gun before putting it back in her bag. Hayley got up, panting heavily and turned towards Katherine. "I'm a human now," she explained. "Guns are kind of a requirement in my life."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Katherine didn't end up getting to a hotel that night. She stayed up, discarding of the bodies. Morning finally arouse over New Orleans, and Katherine watched from a safe distance, the repercussions of the attack the night before. Hayley had helped her burn the bodies, and now loved ones stood around a pile of ashes, quietly sobbing over Katherine's kills.

One guy came around looking for his mother, and it only took him a moment to realise she was in the pile. He broke down in sobs, and Katherine took a very deep breath. She'd never felt guilt over her kills. And she shouldn't now. They were going to kill Hayley, and to get in Klaus's good books, Katherine had saved the mother of his child.

But she knew which one was the boy's mother. She'd looked her in the eyes and shot her. She felt… something. Not grief or remorse, but something.

Marcel Gerard, still looking as he did in the fifties, was standing with a young brunette woman, watching the scene, and looking remorseful. Davina, she guessed. Not important. None of this was. Nothing was important except from her own survival.

She'd done by that rule for many centuries, but when phrased like that… it did seem wrong.

"Are these your kills?" Muttered a voice in her ear. She always loved hearing that husky drawl in her ear…

"They were going to kill your ever-so-precious Hayley," Katherine defended, turning around to face Elijah. "Since you're so righteous and noble all the time, what would you have done?"

Elijah sighed. "You have to tell me why you're here, Katerina," he ordered. He was clearly tired and unhappy with her presence. But there was a gleam in his eyes. Nope, just the sunlight. Was that a faint hint of a smile? Nope, he was just sucking his teeth.

No matter how much she cared for him, how much she… loved him, he would never see her as anything more than a project. Something to be fixed. There would never be any relationship between them.

Just chemistry and a whole lot of sexual tension.

"A while ago, I stole Elena Gilbert's body and poisoned it," she explained. "Don't worry, she's fine. But now I'm alive, human, alone. With hundreds of angry vampires and witches hunting me down. I have no allies, no help, no chance of surviving. Stefan and Damon hate me, and you and Klaus are my second favourite pair of vampire brothers. I need you."

Elijah's eyes flickered before her own, trying to determine any signs of lying. But she had perfected the art many centuries ago, and he caught nothing. "Niklaus isn't going to protect you just because you need him to."

"He will if he needs me too," she replied, logically. "And he does. Again, Elijah, I'm human. And a Petrova doppelganger. Wouldn't he like a nice big army to protect his daughter?" There was a pause as she reached up to play with the sleeve of his suit. "I don't have any other options here, 'Lijah. I'm going to die sooner rather than later, anyway. If he doesn't take my deal, then it might as be by him. Lord knows he's worked hard enough for it. Besides, I'm still young and beautiful."

Elijah took a deep breath, studying her up and down before resting his hand on her cheek. "How can you be human?" He whispered, more to himself than to her. Ah, so he hadn't heard. "How could you get the cure?" He sighed, tugging one of her curls before brushing it back into place.

"Elijah…" She whispered, wondering how he would react to her kissing him right there. Probably not positively.

"I promised you a few years ago, that I would aid you in making a deal to ensure your freedom from my brother," he reminded her. "I think it's time I followed through on my word." He stretched his hand out to her and she paused before taking it, letting him lead her through the streets of New Orleans.

-0-0-0-0-0-

As soon as Hayley and Klaus reunited, blood was shed. They fought in the heart of their home, jumping up to balconies, where neither of the allies could interfere. In the midst of the fight, Klaus vaguely registered Elijah's arrival and warning. "Niklaus," was all he said, but the message was clear.

Don't fight back. It would be so much worse if he simply fought back. It was only after Hayley ceased her temper tantrum to have a tearful reunion with her daughter, that Klaus finally turned to face his brother.

And the bitch stood next to him.

"It really is just one thing after another in this city, isn't it?" He mused, leaning against the balcony to face them. "What the hell do you want, Katerina?"

* * *

The rest of the morning was quite peaceful in comparison. Jackson and Hayley moved into their new apartment across the street, getting Hope settled in. Freya recovered from Hayley's blow by retreating to her room and napping. Camille was off doing god knows what. Elijah, Klaus and Katerina got the chance to finally talk about her arrival in New Orleans.

"All I want is someone to watch my back," she insisted, sitting at the head of a long dining table. Klaus was on the other end and Elijah was somewhere in the middle, watching them both. "In return, you get a whole army of hybrids to protect your little girl. Sounds fair to me."

"Well, this is clearly a manipulation," Klaus exclaimed, gesturing to her angrily. "You have conducted a deal in which I seem to gain a fairly generous amount, and you get nothing but somebody _watching your back_. There's more to it, isn't there? Don't lie to me, Katerina, just tell."

She blinked. "I have people – old, strong people all over the world, who want to do exactly to me as I did to them. People who want to feed me my own eyeballs, or stick my own fingers into my eyes. People who want to hurt me. Having someone watch my back isn't a small favour."

Klaus took a deep breath thinking this over. "Have you heard the news, Katerina, that it's not only your blood that makes hybrids now?"

"Yes, but you're not going to use your own daughter, are you?" She asked, accusingly.

"Okay, then what's to stop me from draining you dry right here, and feeding you to the vultures?"

"I am," Elijah chimed in, looking as if the answer was obvious. "Remember that I have not yet forgiven you for murdering Gia before my very eyes. You would do well in my eyes to take this opportunity."

Klaus looked between Katerina and Elijah, studying them. "You will finally forgive me, brother?"

Elijah opened his mouth to clearly say something angrily, but he glanced at Katherine, who looked worried, and he rethought his words. "I will indisputably forgive you of any and all previous crimes," he decided, boldly.

Klaus paused before giving a curt nod. "Okay. I have my own terms, however. I want to continue the Petrova bloodline, so in a few centuries, I can build my army further, in case any have fallen. You're going to need to have a child. Now, I'd say you're physically eighteen or nineteen, so I'll give you ten fair years to find someone yourself or I'll choose."

"Niklaus don't be absurd-"

"Deal," Katherine said. She had ten whole years to fix that or find a loophole, anyway. She just needed to live one day at a time. "Anything else?"

He shrugged. "If you break any rules of the quarter, the deal is off," he told her. "I'll kill you. Oh, and you're not allowed to leave the city without my permission."

"Fine," she said, more than eager for this deal to be made already.

There was a pause as Klaus released a sinister chuckle. He flashed across the table in an instant, pulling her to her feet by her neck and biting into it like an apple. She screamed in pain and heard Elijah yelling angrily, but Klaus didn't let go of her until the other brother pulled him away, throwing him against the end wall and turning to Katherine to see if she was okay.

When Klaus returned to their side, he angled her face up to his and compelled her. "You will abide by the terms of the deal you have agreed to," he demanded. "You will not try to harm me or my family."

"I will not try to harm you or your family," she repeated back to him, her pupils dilating.

"Niklaus, is that really necessary?" Elijah asked, his eyes rolling.

"Well of course," he replied. "Now we know she isn't on vervain, anyway." He wiped Katherine's blood from the corners of his lips and smirked. "You best behave yourself, Katerina. I'm not going to be kind, but let's not make it any worse, hm?"

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah found Freya on one of the balconies, holding a cold flannel to her head. He had previously seen Katherine to one of the spare bedrooms, and was keeping an ear out for any signs of trouble, be it from her or from his brother.

"I was misguided to believe bringing Hayley back would ease tensions in this house," Freya said, sounding completely beat.

"Misguided," Elijah agreed, shrugging. "Delusional. Refreshingly optimistic. You're new."

"And Katherine?" Freya asked. Elijah's face darkened considerably at the mention of her name. "What does her arrival mean for tensions in this family?"

Elijah thought about it for a moment before answering. "Well, if Hayley eased them, Katerina must have spiked them back up again."

"Trouble?"

Was Katherine Pierce trouble for the Mikaelsons? "Lots," he answered. "I've forgiven Niklaus for his previous crimes, and I need to forget about Gia for the sake of Katerina. But he never has, and likely never will, forgive me for my encounters with his worst enemy."

Freya narrowed her eyes. She had met Mikael and Esther, seen Klaus bicker with Marcel. "Is she really that bad?" She asked, wondering what could be worse than she's already witnessed.

He looked down at his hands, thinking to himself and becoming lost in thought, clearly reciting a memory. "She didn't used to be," he claimed. "She used to be warm. Bright. Kind. In the late 1400's, Klaus planned to kill her, but I think over the few months of her stay with us, he began to… understand the light in her. Relate to it even. Every time he insisted that we felt nothing, I couldn't help but wonder if he meant it more towards himself than to I."

She blinked, almost laughing. "He liked her?"

Elijah shrugged. "Possibly. I did, too. Every time he tried to kill her over the centuries, I had a hand in her survival. He never forgave me for taking his toy and making her my own." He paused realising how sexist that sounded. Gia would be disgusted. "Objectively."

Freya's face softened as she studied his. "Do you like her now?"

"I…" That was a difficult question. He had been in love with her for centuries. He had hated her for centuries. But since their time searching for the cure, he'd began to question whether he loved her, or the idea of her. And if it was the latter, then he couldn't hurt her like that, even if she deserved it. "I owe her now. It is difficult to explain, and I am in no mood to do so."

"What is it?" She asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

"I received some unsettling information from Lucien Castle. I do not trust the source but I trust you."

Not five minutes later, they had Klaus cut open and bleeding over a bowl. Things really escalated quickly in their family.

"If you fed from the prophet witch, then your blood is still in her system," Freya reminded him, setting things up for a spell. Elijah finally trusted her, and she wasn't going to let them down. She lit a candle and set out pieces of paper with ancient Norse writing on. "If there's a weapon that can kill you, we need to know."

Klaus set the bowl down in front of her and she cringed before putting her hands into the pool of blood. She began chanting the spell, as her brothers watched. Elijah paced behind her. She could feel the spell taking a lot from her and she struggled to breath under the weight of it.

She vaguely heard her brother's voice demand her to stop and a hand on her arm, but she took no notice of it. Her vision changed to a portrait of Elijah, blood splattering down it and ruining it. There was some sort of beast's silhouette rising after it.

When the spell finished, she took a deep breath and sighed. "It's true," she concluded. "There is a terrible shadow over you. Rebekah too. If this prophecy is fulfilled, you will all fall. One by friend. One by foe. And one by family."

There was a pause as Elijah and Klaus observed each other. One would fall by family, and given recent events, that was likely one of those two.

But Klaus realised another issue quite quickly. "Isn't it dandy," he whispered, "that we just excepted a foe into our home, as this prophecy arises?" He flashed towards the staircase but Elijah stopped him in his tracks, getting in front of him and pushing him back, away from her new room.

"She is not a threat to us," Elijah exclaimed, pronouncing every word carefully. "She is human, weak, easily handled. Not to mention the fact you compelled her not to act against us."

"She is sly!" Klaus retaliated. "A spider in amongst her webs. She may not directly destroy us, but I promise you she has an agenda!"

"I will keep her controlled," Elijah insisted, pushing Klaus back once again when he tried to get through. "Brother, I promise you, she will not be a reason for our divide."

"You don't know her as well as you think you do," Klaus hissed. "You're nothing but an ignorant, lovesick fool when it comes to her. I'm going to kill her, and it will save us both."

He ran past Elijah onto the staircase. Elijah ran after him, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him back down onto the bottom floor. "If you kill her, I _promise_ you, I will be the reason for your fall."

There was a pause as Klaus drank in what his brother said. "You'd give up your family for her?"

"She's done me better than you have!" Elijah exclaimed, clearly reminiscing about his time in a box, and his mental agony when Klaus told him his family was irretrievable. And Gia. He could never forget Gia.

"You promised to forgive me-"

"You promised to spare her."

"Enough!" Freya yelled, running between them with her weak human speed. "We haven't had the prophecy for five bloody minutes and you're at each other's throats. Both promises are kept, okay? Katherine stays where she is. Innocent until proven otherwise, understand? Distance your friends. Bring the family together. Let us try and play nice."

There was still tension between the brothers, but eventually, both of them agreed to Freya's rules, and parted ways for the night. Elijah tried not to slam the door of his bedroom as he recited all the things he would have to do to keep Katerina safe, and wondered whether or not it was worth it.

* * *

 **Chapters will be based on episodes, but I'm only intending on re-writing the scenes that change. Otherwise I'm just copying straight from the script. And small scenes that the plot would make zero sense without, so if anyone here hasn't watched TO S3 then it still makes sense.**

 **Hours to write, but only seconds to review! Please let me know what you think! -Izzy x**


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: Ahh thank you all so much for the kind reviews! I really appreciate all the support this story has gotten so far. I'm so excited for this. Due to my lack of social life, I'm writing a chapter a day, and the latest few have been so fun to write!**

 **Anyway, there's so Camille-bashing this chapter. This isn't going to be anti-Hayley, but I can't stop myself from bashing Camille. Sorry not sorry.**

 **Enjoy! -Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Two – The Originals 3x03**

The morning started off surprisingly peaceful, in comparison to the ones Katherine had suffered through over the last few weeks. She was in a real bed, a thick, bouncy one with a deep mattress and feathery duvet. When she woke up, the warmth on her face from the nearby window was very welcome, even if the brightness wasn't.

She rolled away from it and found her head falling on someone's lap.

Elijah.

The thought make her smile and she allowed herself to enjoy it. He must have come to check on her first thing in the morning…

Wearing jeans?!

Her head shot up and she faced her guest, her eyes growing dark. "Klaus, what the hell?" She snapped, outraged. The hybrid was leaning against the headboard, quite amused at her brief sense of comfort around him.

"Good morning, Katerina," he greeted, grinning. "How did you sleep?" She replied by scowling at him and reaching for her kimono at the end of the bed, throwing it around her shoulders. Klaus got to his feet and walked around her bed to the door, swinging it open to reveal a woman with a hospital walker, and empty blood bags. "I'm thinking one a week," he mused, allowing her in and helping her set up the needle. "Starting today."

"For how long?" Katherine asked.

Klaus shrugged. "A month. Then you can take a short break. I don't want to kill you, after all."

"No?"

"No. But you didn't know that, apparently," he deliberated. "You came here, trying to win your freedom from me. _Me_ , of all your enemies. You could have ran, I wouldn't have known you were alive. In fact, I think you could have _easily_ ran, even as a human from those other enemies of yours. But you decided to run here."

"I don't want to run anymore," she said, sighing. "Is that so hard to believe? You were the one who put me through hell, anyway."

"But I could have easily killed you on first sight," Klaus reminded her. "Or taken your blood, drained you dry, and left you for dead. There are so many ways our encounter could have gone, and yet, you took the risk anyway? Why? For Elijah?"

Katherine tossed him a secretive smirk before turning to the nurse woman without replying.

"Just so you know," Klaus said, as he stabbed Katherine in the arm with a needle, "Elijah's been very happy here, without you. He didn't even bat an eye when you died. So if you think, if you're here for him, that's your feelings are returned…" He looked up at her, to see the look in her eyes when he stung her, "you prepare yourself to be disappointed, love."

She rolled her eyes and snatched her arm away from him, already feeling the blood draw from her. "What do you know about _love_?" She asked, using her nickname to turn it back to him. "You wouldn't know what to do with love if you found it." She watched him tense up and smirked. "Maybe you think you already have? You know, I planned on meeting that Camille today. But that's not who you're thinking about, right? Does she know about the other blonde you took a fancy for?"

Klaus almost laughed. "You're supposed to be clever, Katherine. Do you really think you could hurt me with _Camille_?"

"There's all sorts of things I could do with Camille," she played. "Have a nice day, Klaus."

The hybrid rolled his eyes before leaving her with her blood transfusion.

-0-0-0-0-0-

He found Elijah and Freya in the parlour, just as his brother finished telling the story of Lucien Castle, and his brutal punishment for Klaus's crimes. "Which is why," Klaus interrupted, to wrap the story up, "Lucien is both a friend and a foe. Two out of three. I suggest we annihilate him before he causes trouble."

"We can't kill him before we know why he's here," Elijah reasoned, rolling his eyes.

"He can't be here for any good reason if he lied to us already," Klaus exclaimed. "I haven't forgotten about the wolf venom. He had no reason to lie, and yet…"

"Elijah's right," Freya agreed. "He could have some information that could be useful to us."

Klaus sighed. He was getting increasingly tired of all of his siblings agreeing against him. "Well, we should figure out what he wants pretty quickly. What's say we pay him a visit this morning?"

Elijah nodded, satisfied. "I would like to meet the prophet, if she is still staying with him."

Klaus smirked and turned to Freya. "Watch Katerina today. She is still a foe, after all." He watched as Elijah ignored this statement, getting to his feet and acting like Klaus didn't say a thing. How immature…

* * *

"Lucien!" Klaus exclaimed, bursting the door to the vampire's apartment and swaggering in by his brother's side. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"I'm afraid you missed him," came a woman's voice from the other room. Alexis, the prophet witch, strolled out of the bedroom in a full-length night gown. She observed the brothers and smiled.

"Where is he?" Klaus asked, scowling.

"The police station," she answered, matter-of-factly. "A detective Kinny had some questions for him."

"And he allowed himself to be arrested?" Elijah asked, looking around the apartment, bored. They'd both been there before, so he must be looking to see if anything changed.

Alexis looked bemused by the question. "He has nothing to hide."

"Lucien's occupied," Elijah concluded, taking a deep breath and sitting himself down on the expensive couch. "Perhaps we should entertain ourselves in the meantime."

Klaus smirked at the witch suggestively. "Well, I've never been one to turn down a snack."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Katherine ended up dragging Freya out of the compound by her wrist, through the French Quarter. "Where are we going?" The witch whined, too beat from the previous night's spell to try and fight her. Besides, she wouldn't get herself, and by extension: Freya, into any trouble.

"To meet Lucien," Katherine explained, like it was obvious. "I don't want Elijah trying to stop me, so while those idiots are running the wrong way, I'm going to get answers for myself."

"How do you know they're running the wrong way?" Freya asked. How did Katherine always seem to be one step ahead of the Mikaelsons?

"I tapped Cami's phone," she replied, holding up her own like it was obvious. "He got arrested this morning." She pulled Freya down behind a car and pointed to across the street, where Camille was walking with some guy towards the police station.

"Is he relevant?" Katherine asked.

"Vincent's a warlock," Freya explained. "Why?"

Katherine shrugged. "They might put up a fight."

She got to her feet and strolled across the road, making the cars stop for her. Freya huffed slightly before jogging after her.

Freya thought she knew New Orleans by now, but Katherine made it feel… different. She knew the streets somehow, and she had so much confidence. She added swagger, something New Orleans dearly needed. They got to the other side of the street and Katherine stepped in front of Camille and Vincent, stopping them in their tracks.

"Hi," she sang.

"Sorry, we're kinda busy," Camille said, making to move around her, sounding bored and annoyed. Katherine physically stopped her, pushing her back.

"I'm new to town," she explained her sweet smile falling. "I don't think we've met. I'm Katherine." Camille turned to Vincent, but neither of them recognised the name. They recognised Freya though, when she joined them.

"I don't want Mikaelson fingerprints on this," Camille snapped, growing angry.

"Chill, we just want to listen in," Katherine justified.

Freya chimed in. "I would let her, if I were you," she claimed. "She's five hundred years old, and I've heard stories."

Camille looked Katherine up and down before making a deduction. "Narcissism, I'm guessing, due to your over confidence and apparent villainess tendencies. Katherine, was it?" She was clearly trying to intimidate her, but Katherine just laughed. Camille looked angry. "You can't come with us," she decided.

"I was hoping to start a fight," Katherine said with a sigh. She grabbed the front of Camille's shirt and shoved her against the brick wall. The blonde tried to slap her, but Katherine shoved her arms away and banged her head so hard against the wall she fell to the pavement, unconscious.

"Katherine!" Freya exclaimed, blocking Vincent's magic as he tried to punish Katherine. "We are literally right outside a police station with no compulsion on our side."

She looked absolutely joyful over the situation. Freya knocked Vincent out and followed Katherine into the police precinct. A few people stopped and stared, but after seeing them walk into the police department, they figured it wasn't their business.

Somehow Katherine knew the exact room to go in to, and exactly which button to press so that they could see and hear Lucien, who was leaning against the table in the other room, talking to a detective.

Freya hadn't met Lucien before. He was pretty hot, actually. He wore a careless expression and obvious wealth. He looked like an asshole, to be honest, but assholes can be hot sometimes…

"Those poor men," Lucien was saying, flicking through the files. "Oh, well not poor at all. Look at those watches, those cufflinks. You're probably looking for a lower-class man, with jealousy issues."

"You seem to know the case well," the detective mused.

Lucien seemed to find this accusation amusing. "Look at my watch," he ordered. "My cufflinks. It only takes one to know one."

The detective tried to mimic Lucien's humorous expression. "Do you know why you're a suspect, Mr Castle?"

"I know why I'm being framed," Lucien mused. "I also know that you have Camille O'Connell behind that window, and I would very much like to her alone. Bring her to me." He leaned forward and compelled the detective, who quietly got up to leave.

Freya swallowed and watched the detective leave the interrogation room. He checked the room they were watching them in, but he paid them no attention before leaving again. "Is he going to find Camille?" Freya whispered.

Katherine nodded, not looking the slightest bit worried. She left the room without a word and walked through to the room that held Lucien captive.

His eyes narrowed when he first saw her, like he vaguely recognised her. "Well, you're not Camille," he noticed.

"What gave it away?" She asked, closing the door behind her and strolling in. "Was it the brunette hair, or the fact that I haven't psycho-analysed you yet?"

"You can't blame a man for wanting some entertainment." He laughed.

"Good," she claimed, pulling the chair out and sitting opposite him, resting her heel-clad feet on the table. "I'm Katherine Pierce."

Lucien's face fell and his mouth opened in slight shock. " _The_ Katherine Pierce? Jesus, I thought you were a myth. Is it true you dated Kol and Elijah at the same time, while running from Klaus? And none of them knew?"

Katherine blinked. "No," she exclaimed. "I never dated Kol. For the record, I expected more from you than some silly gullible dick. Do you believe every soap-opera inspired rumour you hear?"

"You've heard of me, too?" Lucien asked, ignoring the rest.

"Lucien Castle," she identified. "Oh yeah, I've heard all about you. I heard you're a frenemy to the Mikaelsons. Which means you and I could make pretty excellent friends."

"Oh, I'm betting on it."

"Camille would want me to get you to talk about these murders," Katherine mused, flicking through some of the files. "Brutal. Kudos. Why bother denying it, right? But I think Camille's a bore. Human, moral, can't shut up about her god damn degree. She's not that smart. Like, yeah, I'm a psychopath? Anyone can guess that, it doesn't make you special?"

As if on cue, the detective walked back into the room, dropped Camille's unconscious body on the floor, and left again. Lucien looked at the blonde before turning back to Katherine, who shrugged innocently.

He took a deep breath before continuing like she wasn't there. "I think Cami and I are quite similar, actually. So are you. Three souls caught in the orbit of the family Mikaelson, yet somehow survived to tell the tale. I mean, look what they did to you. And now you live with them."

"I'm not living with them for the company," she replied. "I won't even be living with them for long. I'm hoping to get my own place."

"But still abide by them?" Lucien checked. "If I'm not mistaken, Klaus killed your whole family, and tried to kill you too. And Elijah blamed you for it. Do you know what they did to me?"

Katherine took a deep breath, pretending to be bored. "Go on then. Entertain me."

Lucien smirked. "I gave Klaus a love letter for a beautiful redhead. When he promised to deliver it, I caught him taking advantage of her instead. The guard arrived and since I was there, they both chose to frame me for the secret meeting."

"So?" Katherine huffed. "Was your pride wounded? Did the girl fancy Klaus instead?"

"I was beaten bloody for my indiscretions," Lucien explained. "I was tortured for what Klaus did. Lord was it humiliating."

Katherine sighed, rolling her eyes at his sob story. "So, what?" She asked. "You want to hurt him?" She swung her legs off the table and leaned on her elbows, resting her chin on her hands. "See, I can't let that happen, Lucy."

"Oh no. Katerina, is it?" He used her birthname in such a patronising tone. Katherine hated the really old vampires. "I want to protect him. See, I have plenty of motivation to kill him, and these murders are meant to frame me. Turn him against me. I want your help proving my innocence. You and I… we could work together. I've heard stories about you, you know. Unstoppable. Unbeatable. Survivor. Imagine our joining forces."

"I work best alone," she said. Lucien wasn't the first Klaus-hating sucker who wanted to work with her, and he wouldn't be the last. "And Klaus can protect himself pretty well."

"Katerin-"

"Not to you. My name is Katherine to you," she said, her eyes growing dark and her face hardening. "I don't want to be your friend, or to get chummy. I want to leave you alone. And then, when the time is right… I want to kill you." She cherished the look of shock on his face. "Because you're inevitably going to become an enemy to the Mikaelsons, and when I kill you…" she leaned forward, as if sharing a secret, "they'll trust me."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Alexis moved around a table, burning a stick of incense as the brothers. Watched, pacing behind her. "How long is this going to take?" Klaus asked, impatiently.

Alexis sneered. " _Elijah_ and I can begin now. Just us. Sadly, I've already showed you what visions of you have made an appearance."

Klaus rolled his eyes, almost amused that the witch thought she had a say in the situation. "The warning was for both of us. Friend, foe and family. I'd like to see his, please."

Since Elijah didn't protest, the prophet relented. "Since family is of the matter, and you are brothers, are you so sure you'd like to see what I have to show you?" She removed her hair from her shoulder as she spoke, letting them see the veins in her neck pulse.

Elijah smirked. "I never could resist a good spoiler." He put his hand on her neck and Klaus positioned her wrist. They bit down in unison, and a vison flashed before their eyes.

A book; some sort of grimoire. Portraits of Elijah and Rebekah. Blood splattered across Elijah's staining the art. Marcel fell to his knees in pain, clearly losing a fight. Lucien Castle leaned across a metal table and brushed a stray curl from Katerina's face.

When they pulled away, Klaus grumbled angrily. "Well, at least your visions were specific," Klaus said. Elijah gently lay the prophet, now unconscious, onto the table, as Klaus continued talking. "It seems Lucien has intentions for Katerina."

"And what of Marcel?" Elijah asked. "Family and friend? Where does his loyalties lie?"

There was a pause as Klaus blinked. Elijah didn't seem to know why that was such a foolish question. "You question him over the company kept by your darling Katerina?"

Elijah rolled his eyes. "Niklaus, you compelled Katerina not to work against us, and she is very capable of taking care of herself. Even as a human."

Klaus sighed. "Well, I trust Marcel a hell of a lot more that Katherine, and that's not unreasonable given her history. However, since I seem to care more than you, find Marcel and question him. I'll go, as the rational brother, and make sure our vixen's affairs are in order."

-0-0-0-0-0-

At the police station, Lucien had barely finished explaining to Katherine how him and Tristan were in town to protect their sires when Klaus burst in, noticing Camille on the floor and glaring at Katerina. "What the hell have you done?"

Katherine giggled as he pulled Camille to her feet. "Misbehave?" She answered, innocently. "Relax, I'm not strong enough to kill her with my bare hands."

Klaus ignored her, feeding Camille his blood. She began to stir as he did so, and he sat her down in one of the chairs, barely able to keep herself up. "What happened?" She grumbled. She perked up a little when Klaus picked Katherine up and shoved her against the wall.

"What happened?" He demanded, angrily.

"Well I wanted to meet Lucien, but Camille got all bossy," Katherine mused, thoughtfully, "so I smashed her head against the wall. Your big sister helped, by the way."

Klaus grumbled, pulling her from the wall and grabbing a fist of her hair, pulling her into another interrogation room, locking her in there. "Wait there," he ordered. "Don't cause any more trouble." He stalked off to finish questioning Lucien for her.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Klaus left the precinct, followed by Cami, Freya and Katherine. Katherine trailed slightly behind with Freya, who was quickly becoming one of her top two Mikaelsons. Klaus seemed irked by that, which was funny.

He had a little row with Camille about whether he should confront Lucien or not, which was also funny, and then Klaus left, flashing away like some sexy supervillain.

"I'm going to find Vincent," Freya informed her, noting her glances at Camille. "Make sure I didn't hit him too hard, you know?"

Katherine didn't react, but when Freya left, Cami stalked up to her quite confidently. "Look, I know you have a history with the Mikaelsons, and _used_ to be pretty hardcore, but if you ever come at me again… I'll _kill_ you."

Katherine laughed. She covered her mouth with her fingers to hide it. "Seriously? I thought you were a good little catholic girl." There was a pause as her laughing died down and she sighed. "But really, Camille? You mean nothing. Good luck killing me."

She walked past her, but Camille stopped her, outraged. "I don't mean nothing," she exclaimed. "I'm a human being. I'm intelligent. I have-"

"A degree?" Katherine guessed. "A degree means nothing in a fight, Camille. The only reason you know who Lucien is, is because you've deluded yourself into thinking Klaus has a thing for you, and you think that entitles you to a place in this world. Guess what? It doesn't."

Camille huffed and smirked, like she was about to put Katherine in her place. "I set down the boundaries between Klaus and I," she informed her, proudly. "He's the one who keeps inviting me to art shows."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Please. You're merely a carbon-copy of a perky blonde in Virginia. You know, one he's actually interested in. You look a little like her, so his subconscious thought: good enough! He misses her, and you're the 2.0. And what's really funny, is that if you were as good a psychology as you thought you were, you would have figured that out by now." She smirked as Camille's face fell. "So, I'm going to do to you what I want, and Klaus won't care. Go ahead, try and kill me. See if he cares then. I'm a lot more important than you are, Cami."

* * *

Elijah sat by the fireside late in the evening, twirling a glass of scotch but not drinking from it. He heard his brother's presence behind him, and spoke before he could. "Aya and Tristan have arrived in New Orleans as well," he informed him, unhappily. "I fear his unstable sister is short to follow."

Klaus stood aside him and stares at the same flame. "Lucien is stubborn. He insists he's here for my benefit. Don't trust Tristan, Elijah. I don't believe them."

"Never trust the Strix in general," Elijah mused. "I never created them to be trustworthy." Klaus paused, not making a move to sit down. He didn't want a conversation, but he didn't leave. He had something to say. "What is it?" Elijah demanded.

"Are you purposely trying not to care about her? Katerina?" Klaus asked.

Elijah sighed. "I don't trust her, you're right. I know she is compelled, but… She's Katherine Pierce. She's not Katerina anymore, Niklaus."

There was a moment before Klaus responded. "Is she not worth the forgiveness you granted me?" He asked. Elijah did not reply, so Klaus continued. "I know you are still upset, and unhappy in our reconciliation, but I will earn the forgiveness you gave. And you will never fall by my hand."

He left the room, without another word.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah paced around the compound aimlessly, for a little while. He didn't know what he wanted any more than his brother did. But somehow, he found himself on the doorstep of her current bedroom. Katherine. Katerina. Who cared anymore?

The water stopped running in the other room and he watched as she walked back from the adjoining bathroom, stark naked and completely unashamed of herself. She smirked at him. "Care to join me?" She asked, winking.

Elijah forced his gaze to remain at eye-level before turning away, disappointed. He'd hoped to have a rational conversation, to some extent. But he hadn't been there for ten seconds before she already attempted to seduce him.

She rolled her eyes and picked up a towel from her bed, wrapping it around her body and tucking it together. "No? Then what _do_ you want, Elijah?"

He paused before shaking his head, looking back up to her eyes – allowing himself to briefly pause on her long legs – before shrugging. "I don't know," he admitted.

"Well, you better make up your mind soon," she mused, quite cheerfully as she tidied away her clothes of the day. "In ten years, I'm supposed to be married with a baby."

Elijah didn't know whether he should cringe of laugh at the thought. He'd watched Hayley marry Jackson and raise Hope with him, and while that stung, he guessed it would be even worse when Katerina settled down with someone else. But the thought of her being a housewife…

"Ten years, Elijah," she snapped, pulling him out of the daydream. Clearly the timing was much more important to her than the situation. "Ten years. After playing around each other for five hundred, we have ten left. Then I'm going to get old and weak. Then I'm going to die."

He winced at the idea of that. "Katerina," he mused. "Are you asking me to fall in love with you right this minute? I can't. You've given me too many reasons to mistrust you-"

"Then think logically!" She snapped, throwing her laundry in the hamper and stepping up to him, her big brown eyes meeting his, showing all the weaknesses her jawline concealed. "I have allies, just like I have enemies. Strong ones. I could have gone anywhere, but I suffered your brother to be in New Orleans. To be with _you_. That's got to be worth something."

Elijah paused, blinking. He wanted, so desperately, for that to be enough. But it wasn't. She was up to something; she had to be. With the prophecy looming over them, he had to keep Katherine at arm's length.

"It isn't," he lied.

She scowled slightly and looked away, trying to hide the sadness behind her eyes. "Just try," she spat after a minute, barely more than a whisper. "I don't have that much time left, Elijah, we need to work fast. Just… try."

* * *

 **This story will follow the TO plot for a little while, but it will take on a few plots of it's own as we go along.**

 **Don't forget to review! It will really make my day! Please? -Izzy x**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: Ah all of these lovely reviews are making my day! Thank you all so much for the feedback, it means a lot. I'm gonna take a second to answer some of your questions:**

 **Caroline comes into the story in Chapter Eight, officially, and I'm rushing my updates to get to that point. It was the soonest time that made sense to the narrative. I'm definitely going to write her as the sassy, badass girl she is! And for the record: You will never read a story of mine that involved Ric's babies in Caroline. I found that storyline disturbing and gross, and I'm sorry, but I will not include it.**

 **I've been anti-Hayley before, but I actually kinda liked her in Season 3, so this story is not going to be anti-Hayley. But, Katherine will not be so fond of her for a while, at least.  
However, I do love female friendships, so there will be some development between Katherine/Caroline (especially these two) /Hayley/Freya/Rebekah.**

 **Nikki - I think Elijah's choice was really about love, but should have been on priorities. Katherine was human, hunted by Silas, and alone. She needed him. Klaus is an all-powerful, unkillable being, who had to deal with a few witched (who weren't even allowed to do magic fyi). He definitely should have picked Katherine.**

 **I hope you enjoy! Remember to follow and favourite, and tell me what you think! -Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Three – The Originals 3x04**

"Thank you for meeting me," Katherine said, smiling and pulling her knees to her chest. It was a cute, spacious little coffee shop with wooden tables and leather couches. Katherine had curled up in the corner of one, keeping her hands warm on her mug. It was too early in the morning to be outside, but she'd somehow made it.

"How could I refuse?" Marcel asked. "Kitty, kitty. I haven't seen you since the fifties. You were running from Klaus as far as you could."

She smirked. "Things change. Enemies swap around. Allies too."

"And species?" He asked. "God, I cannot imagine you human!" He laughed and Katherine joined in after a moment.

"Yeah, it's been a struggle," she agreed, rolling her eyes at herself. "In the first few weeks, I realised how out of shape I was." Her hand reached up to cover her face in embarrassment. "I tried working out," she continued, and Marcel laughed before she could even finish her story. "I swear, I fell on my ass more times than I can count."

Marcel's laughter died down after a minute. "So, what the hell are you doing _here_?!" He drank his own coffee, stretching slightly in his work-out clothes. Why would a vampire even go out jogging? Oh who cared, he looked good for it.

She shook her head in bewilderment. "I don't even know," she admitted. "I needed an ally, and there isn't a better ally that the Mikaelsons, right?"

Marcel grimaced. "That's debatable," he told her.

She paused before laughing. "Yeah, no this sucks! Seriously, they treat me like some child. Making their sister babysit me like I'm some pregnant werewolf." She and Marcel both laughed at the burn before Katherine waved it off. "No, no offence to Hayley, I mean she's… she's Hayley. There's not much to say there. But really, I can't tell if they're sexist, or… or xenophobic or whatever, because that's got a name now."

"Oh yeah, you're Bulgarian, right?" Marcel remembered, nodding. "Beautiful country. I went there for a week in the seventies. Those eyes of God? Those are creepy as hell. Beautiful, but…"

Katherine laughed, nodding. "I only went to see them the once, but it is eerie."

Marcel nodded before turning back to the Mikaelsons. "So, if you hate them so much, why stay with them?"

She shrugged. "I guess there's just a lot of history with the big brother," she replied, musing. "My rivalry with Junior just isn't worth losing that. But I am tired of being left out of the loop like a child. Not being told anything or invited anywhere. You ever get that?"

"Yeah, I feel you," Marcel said, nodding as he finished his coffee and started on his muffin. Did any men take time to enjoy their food? "But I got some good news. I'm heading to a party tonight, that I don't think they're invited to."

Katherine perked up, sitting straight and putting her coffee down. "Sharing is caring, Marcel," she reminded him. "I'm in desperate need for a club Klaus won't find me at."

"It's not a club," Marcel said, shrugging. "The Strix are in town. I came back from a jog this morning to a tux, laid out for me, and a phone number. I thought it was Aya, some chick I fought a few days ago, but I called Tristan de Martel – an old friend of Elijah's. I'm going to get some answers myself, without their help for once."

Katherine paused, sucking her teeth. "How about I meet you there?"

* * *

Elijah stretched in his loose cotton shirt, slamming his fists against one of the thick punching bags with only a fraction of his strength. He wouldn't let the world see him so built up with rage, so he'd made sure nobody came by the ring that morning, as he worked out his emotions.

She wanted him to try. It's not like he had to try to love her, that was… that came to him naturally. But trying to be with her was a lot harder than it seemed.

True, sometimes after a very stressful day in New Orleans, he'd like to imagine a future where he abandoned the city and found his Katerina, living a life somewhere in Europe with her. It had always been wishful thinking but it had also been… almost like a plan. He'd always thought they would be together one day. He didn't know she was human; he thought they had all the time in the world.

Now they had ten years, and he couldn't help but feel cheated. By her? Was she lying to him? Playing him? He couldn't let himself be played.

But all he wanted was to be with her. To hold her. He couldn't stop thinking about her.

Why did that make him so mad?!

He punched the bag particularly hard and it flew across the room, hitting the wall and exploding like a piñata. He sighed at himself.

"Something you want to talk about, Elijah?" Came a voice. Hayley walked into the room, looking expectant, and his face fell. And then there was Hayley.

He'd fallen for her, and had been upset by her marriage. And she was safer and easier to love than Katherine, despite her husband. But did he want safe and easy? No, of course not. The safe loves were the boring ones. The dangerous loves, the ones you had to fight for, those were the good loves. And he'd fought so hard and so long for Katerina. Maybe _too_ long. He was tired.

He blinked, realising that Hayley had asked a question. "Hm?"

"Something like the Strix?" She added, rolling her eyes and pulling out a piece of card. " _I do wish you can come old chum_. Signed: _Tristan_. I was picking up Hope when some random vampire dropped it off. Care to fill me in?"

Elijah walked up to Hayley and took the card, inspecting it. "This isn't your concern," he said, absent-mindedly flicking it across the room like garbage.

"Oh, but it is," Hayley snarled. "So, stop with this protective macho crap. I'm part of this family too, and I thought you of all people," she trailed off, flashing towards him and shoving him against the ring, "would act like it."

Elijah turned them around in a split second and held her there. "Hayley, your petty wishes and entitlement theories are not my biggest priority today," he said, becoming annoyed. "You're a mother. Hope is yours. To protect her, and yourself, stay away from the Strix and try to forget about them."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Klaus walked into his living room and instantly growled at what he saw there. Freya was on a mat on the floor, trying to meditate or something. In their household, though, yoga could probably benefit the lot of them. "What are you doing here?" He asked her.

She opened her eyes. "I live here," she reminded him, getting to her feet to change position.

"Oh, evidently," he said, rolling his eyes. "I just wasn't aware you were back from wherever you go when you're not here. Maybe I was put off by the lack of strange men perusing the contents of my refrigerator. I did want this to be a family home, after all."

"Well, if we're taking attendance," Hayley chimed in, joining them with Elijah.

"Oh good, it's my not-so-loving elder brother and my former one-night stand," he grinned, sarcastically. "What a lovely, normal family gathering. Will my arch enemy not be joining us today?"

"She left early this morning for coffee," Elijah explained, sitting down in one of the chairs and looking distant as Freya rolled up her yoga mat.

Hayley exchanged a look with his sister before explaining her mood. "Freya messaged me this morning with everything Elijah didn't want me to know. Apparently, you have no clue which one of your enemies are really friends, and which ones are trying to kill you, yet you graciously let one live with you? In the home you expect to share with my daughter?!"

Klaus blinked. "Temporarily," he explained. "I gave her $500,000 so she can find a place of her own in the quarter. Like I said – family home." He looked between their faces before spitting: "Although, what this situation clearly needs is more opinions. I'm guessing you got the news of that bloody prophecy?"

"I didn't get to that," Freya chimed in.

"Now would be good," Hayley said.

Klaus obliged, still pissed. "My old friend Lucien knows a prophet, who saw – confirmed by Freya – that Elijah, Rebekah and I would all fall. One by family, one my friend and one by foe. But not to worry, her visions are constantly evolving."

Hayley sighed, turning to Elijah before facing Klaus again. "Well, I want to meet this witch. Tonight, at the masquerade ball."

* * *

Elijah found Katerina just outside the compound a little while later, in the mid-afternoon. She was on the phone to a real estate agent and talking about a very promising property. When she reached Elijah, she promised to call her back and hung up. "Hey," she greeted, stopping in front of him.

He smiled in response before holding his own invitation to the event up. "I assume, through your network, you already know about tonight?" He guessed.

She nodded. "Yeah, a friend told me," she replied. "And yes, I'm planning to go. And logically, I guess you could stop me, but I'm really hoping you don't."

Elijah smirked. "Actually, I was hoping to escort you," he contradicted, surprising her. "There's no imaginable chance you could come to be there without a summons, and I would very much appreciate your presence. It would be… quite dull."

Katherine paused, a smile creeping up on her when she least wanted it too. "Yeah, I'd love to," she replied. "But I only have nine hours to find something to wear…"

Elijah rolled her eyes and pulled out his wallet, handing her his credit card and watching her slip it into her bag. "Thank you," she mused, grinning like a child who'd just been given their pocket money. "I can't wait."

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Come on, Rebekah," Hayley moaned, pulling out a collection of clothes from her friend's wardrobe and shoving them onto the bed. She knew Rebekah would be furious at her for the treatment of her clothes, but she was in a hurry. "You've got to have something."

She turned around slightly, and jumped at the looming dark figure. Elijah smiled at her, however, quite friendly. "Might I suggest…" He flicked through some of his sister's stuff before pulling out a poufy red ball gown and holding it up to her.

Hayley rolled her eyes at him, hiding a smile. "Thanks," she said, taking it behind the changing partition. Elijah turned around to give her a little privacy, but she didn't know why. He'd seen her naked before, and she was behind a partition. "So what exactly am I walking into tonight?" She asked.

"Only the most dangerous congregation of vampires the world has ever known," he replied, simply. There was a pause before he asked: "Is your husband okay with tonight's arrangements?"

Hayley waited a moment before replying. "Yeah, Jackson's cool," she replied. "He knows I can take care of myself, so…"

"That's not what I meant," he told her.

"Yeah," Hayley breathed, slipping into the ballgown and zipping it up herself. "I know." She stepped out from behind the partition and Elijah turned to face her. She didn't like it. Elijah had once seemed speechless when he saw her in something pretty, but now he was looking at her like he was studying an old theorem. Like he knew it all, but wanted to find something new.

And she shouldn't be bitter. She was married to one man, and had a child to another. Elijah shouldn't be on her radar, but he was.

She'd seen him look at Katherine the night before. Like she was the most incredible piece of art he'd ever seen. Something new and interesting, with parts he's never seen before and wanted to memorise. "Is Katherine okay with tonight's arrangements?" She contradicted, thoughtfully.

He took a deep breath before responding. "I invited her to accompany us," he informed her. "I feel the night could use some entertainment."

Hayley's eyebrows knitted together, clearly doubting that choice. "Really? She's human now, Elijah, going to a party of the most _dangerous congregation of vampires the world has ever known_."

Elijah smirked. "She'll be on my arm the entire night," he reminded her. "There's no need to worry."

Hayley blinked slowly, her face falling as she thought to herself. "You like her, don't you?" She guessed. "Do you… love her?"

Elijah paused, leaning against the doorframe and tapping it. "I did," he replied. "When I first met you, I was still with her." He said it matter-of-factly, but her heart kind of sank. She had had a thing for him almost instantly. "Katerina is difficult," he summarised. "Even if I could trust her, I'm not sure I'm in the right state of mind to handle her."

Hayley nodded. "Yeah, she seems like a difficult person to love."

Elijah opened his mouth to speak, but relented and simply nodded.

* * *

The party was beautiful, in fairness, and very provocative. There were erotic dancers at every table, putting on unified displays for the guests. Some were being fed on by the guests, but they paid no attention to the pain. Alcohol was everywhere, from century-old scotch to colourful martinis. The music was upbeat and sexual. Aya sort out Marcel the second he arrived.

"Mr Gerard," she greeted with a coy smile. "Welcome. I'm glad you could join us. Allow me to make some introductions." She linked arms with him and lead him through the party, pointing out some of her favourite members.

"Wait, is that-" Marcel started.

"Mm-hm," she said, nodding. "One of our most celebrated faces. Our society hold countless actors, artists, politicians. Of course, most of us prefer to live life outside of the public eye. That doesn't make our talents less impressive."

Everyone turned when Elijah joined the party. Looking back in shock, like they couldn't believe they'd actually seen him in real life. One poor girl dropped her drink.

He was dressed in a smart tuxedo, and had Katherine's arm linked loosely through his. She, of course, looked lazily beautiful. She'd bought a primarily white gown with a stiff skirt and a green leaf design. She paired it with pink stilettos and had styled her brunette curls over one lucky shoulder. She had a dainty silver mask over her face, simply decorating her eyes. She got stares of her own, often out of recognition, but mainly out of awe. Hayley stood about a foot away on his other side, looking annoyed at the displays of wealth.

"Why are they all staring at you?" Hayley asked.

"I'm kind of a big deal around here," Elijah said, looking smug and making Katherine smirk. The three of them walked through the party, looking around at the displays while heading to the bar, naturally.

"They're all part of your sire line," Katherine deduced, noticing the resemblance.

"Tragically yes," Elijah mused. "I wanted to assemble minds, curious about the world and eager to improve it. I created a brotherhood of an elite… supposedly better civilisation. It was naïve. I was forced to abandon it when I realised I created an allegiance of sociopaths."

He bought drinks for the three of them, which they could only enjoy for a second before Hayley spotted Marcel. He had Aya on his arm and was looking around, almost amazed at the beauty of the evening.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Hayley asked.

Elijah began to look worried, and Katherine just looked confused. "What? Is he not supposed to be here?"

Elijah turned to her, looking angry. "You knew about this?" He asked. "You didn't think to tell me?"

"I didn't think it was important," Katherine answered, beginning to look nervous. "He mentioned it to me this morning over coffee. He was invited. I figured you probably already knew, and it didn't cross my mind to tell you-"

"If you told me I could have stopped it," he said, scowling. "You should have told me."

"I didn't think-"

"Well you should have."

"Why?!" She exclaimed. "What's the big deal?"

Before Elijah could answer, the erotic dancers formed a line and held up a glass of champagne and a knife, all clinking them in unison. The crowd quietened, the music ceased and everyone turned to Tristan de Martel.

"Distinguished friends, welcome," he started, stepping forward and grinning rather eerily. "It's so rare that we're able to come together like this, to revel for one night in the company of true equals. Now, I'd like to take a moment to welcome a very special guest: Mr Marcel Gerard." There was a moment of applause, which Marcel waved away. "Of course, before we tell Mr Gerard all our secrets, there is one bit of business to which, we must first attend. We must determine his worth."

There was a pause as Marcel laughed. "Funny. I seem to recall _you_ knocking on _my_ door."

Tristan ignored this, continuing without justifying his invitation. "You'll notice, Marcel, that over the course of the evening, someone has managed to take something quite dear to you. Your daylight ring." As it turns out, Marcel had not noticed. He lifted his naked hand to inspect it, shocked and angered.

"What the hell is going on?" Hayley demanded, getting protective quite fast.

Tristan, again, ignored them and continued. "First you must deduce the identity of the thief, and then you just simply take back what's yours. I doubt it will be easy. Despite our refinement, we're still a rather violent bunch. In victory, you become one of us. In failure, you meet your death. You have a few hours until dawn." Marcel began to look slightly panicked and Elijah was looking very angry, which made Katherine pout. "I wish you the best of luck."

"It's an initiation," Katherine realised, when the crowd began to chatter again. "I'm sorry, Elijah. I didn't know." He turned angrily and she repeated herself before he could chastise her. "I didn't know, Elijah! How could I have possibly guessed?"

"Marcel is family," Elijah told her, snapping. "If he is invited to something big and dangerous, I expect you to tell me." He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Katherine tried to speak, but he interrupted her. "How do you expect me to _try_ when all you do is hide things from me and lie?"

Katherine tried again to reply, but Elijah shushed her as they were joined by Tristan, smiling politely at the three of them.

"Good evening," he greeted, looking between them. "I hope you're enjoying the night?"

Hayley glared daggers at him. "How the hell do you expect Marcel to survive one of you?"

"He must be clever," Tristan said, taken aback, as if the answer was obvious. "To be quite honest, we're not really expecting anything, but sometimes the new recruits surprise us." He flashed a quick smile to Elijah before turning back to Hayley. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Tristan de Martel. You must be Hayley Marshall, alpha of the Crescent Pack." He turned quickly to Katherine, and his smile grew wider. "Katerina Petrova. How delighted I am to see you again."

He took Katherine's hand and placed a kiss upon her knuckles. His eyes flicked to Elijah for a reaction, but he was disappointed at the Mikaelson's poker face. Tristan straightened up and let Katherine's hand drop, turning to Elijah. "When I sent your invitation, I didn't dare think you would actually come. Tell me, what do you think of our latest addition?"

Elijah considered it. "Marcellus… Arrogant. Stubborn. Prone to unnecessary grandeur. He should fit in perfectly." He watched as Tristan's face contorted ever so slightly at the insult. But instead of replying, Tristan turned back to Hayley.

"And you?" He asked. "I'm guessing the two of you are friends?"

Hayley blinked. "We're friends," she answered. "And I don't much like bullies."

Tristan laughed at the insult that time, as if it was adorable. "Alright," he excepted. "So, Elijah. Which one of your lady escorts would you prefer I lead into a dance? The skilful Katerina, or outspoken Hayley?"

Elijah smirked. "I assure you, Katerina can be quite outspoken," he mused. "When she sees fit. However, I do believe that you, dear Hayley, had somethings to talk about with Tristan. Now would be the perfect opportunity."

Hayley nodded, leading Tristan onto the dancefloor instead of vice versa. Elijah turned back to the bar and downed the rest of his drink. Katherine watched him, but he paid no attention to her, clearly still mad.

"Elijah…" She whispered, reaching up and resting her hand on his shoulder. He didn't shrug her off.

"I'm going to have to kill everyone here," he told her, under his breath so that only she could here. "Marcel won't be able to make this deduction. So, when they attack him… I'll need to step in. Shame, really. This is a century old tuxedo."

"I'm sorry," she said again, clearly tired of it. "I didn't know."

"Yes, you did," he replied, turning to her, angrily. "You know Tristan. Apparently another fact you didn't think was necessary to tell me."

"What can I say?" She mused. "My mind goes all fuzzy around you." She stopped when Elijah glared daggers. She rolled her eyes and snarled. "A few centuries ago, the Strix invited me to a party just like this one. I made the deduction they wanted me to, and I managed to rip them to shreds. But they were too close to you, and by extension, Klaus. So, I refused their offer, and used the stuff I had over them to ensure their silence. Tristan got in touch every few decades with the same offer. They really seemed to want me."

There was a pause before Elijah extended his hand, which Katherine took graciously, letting him lead her onto the dance floor. They gained a number of stairs from passing couples, all able to see the history between them; the chemistry.

But the chit chat was stiff, however.

"So, you summarised this was an initiation, and knew how Marcel was invited," he mused, thoughtfully. "And yet, you still didn't gather that it was important to tell me. Care to explain your sudden idiocy?"

Katherine clicked her tongue, twirling under his arm and colliding back with his chest. "Care to explain why you're purposely looking for reasons to mistrust me?" She contradicted. "I thought this party was in favour of you, living with them in the same city, or whatever. I thought they were trying to impress you, or recruit me. Don't make this out to be something it isn't."

"How can I not when you're playing me for a fool?!" He demanded as a hiss. "I invited you tonight because I wanted to try, but you're not supposed to interpret the masquerade so metaphorically."

There was a pause as Katherine swallowed, pulling away from him. "You're not the fool, Elijah. I am."

Before she could explain, the attention of the party turned towards an unexpected guest. Elijah scowled as Klaus came crashing through the door with Lucien at his side, each with a couple of young women – dressed very inappropriately – on their arms. They were howling with drunkenness and laughing at nothing in particular.

"My God, it's a room full of Elijah's," Lucien examined, looking around at the wealth of the Strix.

"I had the exact same nightmare once," Klaus replied.

Lucien turned to one of his ladies, who was in a hot-pink corset. "Go and fetch us a drink, love," he requested, although he clearly didn't need another. They must have had quite a lot to become as drunk as they were. "And one for yourself."

"And one for me!" Klaus exclaimed, before pointing to the other three women one-by-one. "And one for her, and her, and her. TRISTAN?!"

Instead of getting Tristan, however, Elijah stepped up to him. "You're intoxicated," he deduced, in clear distaste. Klaus nodded, proudly. Elijah remained polite despite his disapproval. "I will have to request you leave the party, to which you were not invited."

While they finished talking, Katherine retreated to the bar and ordered another cocktail. She worked harder than ever to keep her face straight as she sipped her drink.

Elijah had been putting her through hell for centuries. Granted, she's been doing the same, but they both wanted each other. He was so one-sided and blame-shifting. She was the only one working for them, when he'd given up. He was terrified of becoming a fool, when he'd been playing her like one for days.

"Hmm," murmured a voice in her ear. "I didn't think the bar would be serving these kinds of drinks." For a second, Katherine forgot she wasn't a vampire anymore, and it took her a moment to realise what he meant, by which time his fangs were already tracing along her flesh.

Before she could react, his neck snapped, and his body dropped to the floor. Hayley stood behind him and winked at her. Katherine just rolled her eyes.

"I can take care of myself, Marshall," she claimed, sucking her teeth.

Hayley smirked. "No doubt here," she mused. "But you saved my ass the other night, so it's only fair I save yours." She ordered herself a beer, clearly losing the will to try and fit in with these posh boys for the rest of the night.

"You look like your scheming," Katherine mused, noticing the hard facial expression and hidden worry. "What's going on? I haven't been this bored since I took over Elena Gilbert's life."

Hayley sniggered, spluttering slightly on her drink before tossing Katherine a scolding look. "Let's just say, our hope for Marcel might not be as misguided as it was five minutes ago," she answered. She placed her drink down and sighed. "Look, I know you and Elijah have a history. I also know that you know, that him and I used to have a _thing_. But I'm smart enough to know that _your_ thing is bigger than _our_ thing."

Katherine paused, downing her cocktail. "I think our thing is awkwardly dying," Katherine mused, unhappily.

"Love never dies," Hayley replied, clicking her tongue. "But just so you know – not that you care, I just want to say it – I'm married. And if you and Elijah want to figure this out, then… no hard feelings."

Katherine almost smirked. She had five hundred years of history with Elijah. Pain and pleasure, hurt and comfort. Hayley had pregnancy hormones and entitlement. But nevertheless, she was important in New Orleans. She ran the wolves, and mothered Klaus's daughter. Having Hayley on her side might just be valuable.

"Thanks," she muttered. "But you're not over him. He's a hard person to get over. Believe me, I've tried." She ordered another drink as she tried to phrase what she wanted to say. "He gives all he has to his siblings. Sacrifices everything for him. And they take, and they take, and they take. And then the outsiders, the girls who fall for him… They all want to save him. But none of them can, because they don't know how. And he won't allow himself happiness for long enough for them to figure it out."

"Well you've known him for longer than anyone else," Hayley commentated. "Have you figured it out?"

Katherine waited before nodded. "I know how to make him happy," she said. "But he won't trust me enough to let me try."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah leaned against the bar and circled the rim of his glass with his finger, thinking to himself. How could Katerina lie to him like that? Feign innocence and stupidity… for what? Was it some sort of manipulation? What was the point?

"So many options," came a voice at his ear; a ringing, clear voice. He turned to a man, chiselled in a light suit and a silver masquerade mask, covering the left half of his face contrasting well with his dark olive skin. He studied the menu behind the bar, grinning as he skimmed over the different drinks. "These drinks are hilarious," he claimed, laughing. "Screaming Orgasm? Slippery Nipple?" He laughed to himself, sounding quite jolly, in fact.

"I recommend the Bowmore Scotch," Elijah said, holding up his own glass of alcohol.

The man beamed at him, his eyes glistening. "Thank you for the insight," he said, positively gleaming. He seemed way too grateful for a drink recommendation, but Elijah shrugged it off.

He made to walk away, but the man stopped him with a kind hand. "You must be Mr Mikaelson," he assumed, holding a hand out. "Founder of the Strix. Quite impressive, truly. Such a powerful organisation. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Arc."

Elijah paused before taking his hand and shaking it, appreciating the manners – something members of the Strix usually lacked. "The pleasure's mine," Elijah insisted, managing a smile of his own.

"For the record, I happen to believe the founder is more impressive than the leader," Arc claimed. "So if you ever need an inside man…" He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and slipped it into Elijah's, "give me a call."

Elijah narrowed his eyes, questioning Arc's intentions. Slowly, Elijah pulled the number out of his pocket and handed it back to him. "I'm in no position to be making any new friends," he admitted to him. "I appreciate the offer."

-0-0-0-0-0-

In the early hours of the morning, the Strix gathered to watch Marcel make his decision. He turned around in the centre of the crowd to face Aya, pointing. "Aya took my ring," he deduced. When the older vampire opened her mouth to prove him wrong, he interrupted. "Hold on, hold on. I said you took my ring. I never said you still had it. Because after you took it, you gave it to your pal, Mohinder." He turned to her mentor and grinned.

There was a pause before a light applause. "Congratulations," Tristan mused. "But you'll remember there's another part to the test."

Mohinder stepped forward, straightening his cuffs. "There's no shame in losing to a superior," he claimed, looking Marcel up and down.

"There's not much glory in it, either," he added, looking nervous already.

The fight itself didn't last too long, and was pretty average for a vampire-on-vampire dispute. Marcel started by going for the face, beating it twice. Mohinder took over from then, decking Marcel, who jumped back up. They went crashing through a wall before Mohinder flipped him again. Marcel tried to kick while he was down, but his efforts were futile.

Mohinder pulled him to his feet, shoving him against a nearby wall and biting into his neck, feeding from him.

From the spectator's crowd, Elijah moved to intervene, but Hayley stopped him, winking slightly.

"You fought with honour," Mohinder announced, almost proud of Marcel. "I hope you embrace your end."

"I will if you will," Marcel retorted, his voice becoming a little croaky. Everyone blinked, confused and Marcel just grinned. "Or do you still not know? I suppose you didn't taste it but," he trailed off as Mohinder began to cough and splutter, "but you're feeling it now, right? Wolf's venom. A little parting gift from me."

There were gasps amongst the crowd, and a number of people turning to Hayley, the only wolf in the room, for an explanation. She just smirked, proudly.

"A little parting gift from me," Marcel finished. "I may not have beaten you, but you lost all the same. So, embrace it. We're two dead men walking."

"A LIE!" Mohinder yelled, clearly hiding his ill-health.

Marcel showed everyone the bubbling bite on his arm, clearly getting woozy himself. "I don't know why they want you dead, but they do," he continued. Then he turned to the Strix, analysing them. "Right? Why else would Aya give me a little taste of your tricks the other day? Or tell me about your feeding habits? All I had to do was be observant. But I'm done picking up their breadcrumbs. You guys want him dead? You do it yourself. As far as I can see, the only thing he's done to deserve it is pick his friends poorly."

There was a pause before Tristan walked forward and stepped around Mohinder. He pulled out his heart and let the body drop to the floor, throwing the heart down with it. Then he turned to Aya.

"You chose well," he told her, turning to Marcel. "But of course, he did deserve it. He's been plotting some unspeakable crimes against his people for months. You couldn't have known, of course." He nodded admiringly to Marcel. "Your restraint, your refusal to kill without cause demonstrates a rare integrity. You see, Mr Gerard… this was the test." He moves forward and hands Marcel his daylight ring. "Welcome to the Strix," he grinned. "Provided of course, that you survive your own injury."

* * *

Dawn was just rising over New Orleans when they gathered in the living space of the compound. Elijah refused to get started until Freya and Katherine, who were running late, arrived. Alexis was crying very softly on Lucien's shoulder, mumbling something of an apology.

"I'm sorry, Lucien," she was saying, sniffling. "I really hoped I was wrong. But I wasn't." She turned to Klaus, who was lazing about in an armchair, seeming unconcerned. "I saw him die," Alexis said, sure.

"Did you see the weapon?" Lucien asked, desperately. Alexis nodded. "What is it?"

Alexis turned to Hayley, and then to Elijah. "To understand, it must be seen," she replied.

Hayley and Elijah took a deep breath before moving around the coffee table to sit on either side of Alexis. They both picked up a wrist each and lifted it to their mouths. Freya, Katherine, Lucien and Klaus leaned forward in anticipation.

The first thing they saw was a dining table, laid with expensive crystal and gleaming plates. They saw a book, almost like a grimoire but new. It was filled with shapes and writing. Perhaps a moon cycle? Then they saw hands, soaking in a bowl of blood. Blood splattered across an expensive portrait of Elijah. They saw Katherine, running across concrete as fast as possible, pulling a hood up to protect herself from the rain, as she desperately escaped. Then there were pages of a book, pieces of paper on fire. Freya was in another image, suffering from a difficult spell as Lucien watched over her.

The last image, however, was the one that truly scared Elijah. It had the first time he saw it, and it would the second time.

A huge, looming shadow, growing against a dark wall as the beast approached them.

It was hard to differentiate the vision from their true surroundings, but Elijah couldn't ignore the burning in his throat. Both him and Hayley gasped, pulling away from Alexis, coughing and spluttering, trying to get the poison out of their system.

He felt a comforting hand touch his shoulder and felt the slightest relief. Katerina was with him.

Alexis jerked forward and threw up about a litre of blood, falling onto Lucien's lap. "No," he begged, nothing more than a gasp. "No, no, no! Alexis?!" He cradled his prophet as she died in his lap, completely devastating him.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Only an hour later or so, the sun had arisen entirely over Louisiana, and yet, Elijah still hadn't managed to change or rest. He opened the door to the balcony, just outside of his own bedroom and leaned against the railing. On the other side of the street, Hayley was mirroring his actions, their supernatural hearing allowing them to hear above the nose of the street.

"I finally put her to sleep," Hayley informed him, looking particularly beat. He had heard motherhood did that to people. Then she sighed. "I'll have to explain this family to Hope someday," she mused, looking off into the distance and thinking only of the future. "I think about that sometimes. I won't lie to her. I'll never lie to her. But you know what I'll start with?"

Elijah perked up, interested in how to begin explaining his family. Something he'd been trying to do for centuries.

"Always and forever," Hayley answered, sighing.

If they all fall, then Hayley would raise Hope by herself. And telling the girl of her father's family would be completely her responsibility. But Elijah couldn't imagine a world without his siblings. Should they all fall, the world would be without vampires entirely, and that was even less imaginable. Hayley would be the only immortal being in the world.

In 1000 years, she'd still be there, in a whole new world, with all new people. All alone. Always and forever.

He wondered if she had thought about that yet.

"I'm sorry," he claimed, wanting to remove his mind from the subject. "I should have told you what was happening."

"You were busy with Katherine," she excused, shrugging. "What's the deal with you two, anyway?"

Elijah paused, clicking his tongue. "I've been asking myself the same question for too long," he admitted. "And now, the answer seems more complex than ever before."

Hayley blinked, slowly. "Look, I'm not gonna say that I'm a hundred percent happy with it," she told him, sighing. "Because I'm not. And I have no right to say that, I know. But I'm not going to lie to you, either." There was a pause as Hayley waved away any guilt was residing inside of her. "The thing is… It seems like at least one of you have limited time left on this earth. Maybe you'd be more of a fool to let that slide."

Elijah nodded a goodbye to her and turned back into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Katherine was lying on his bed, waiting to talk to him about their little spat. She was flicking through an old journal of Tristan's, which Elijah had managed to acquire, learning all about their history before it was told to her. She had managed to changed, a full-length kimono covering her nightgown and long legs. She had made her plans to sleep the whole day very clear, and was very fair. She was only human, and had been up for almost twenty-four hours, after all.

"Does she know I'm in here?" Katherine mused, probably just able to hear his side of the conversation with Hayley. "How much does she know about our history, anyway?"

"Our history is our own," he replied, simply. "That's all that matters."

He walked over to the side of his bed and pulled Katerina gently to her feet, running his hands along her sides and resting them on her hips. She reached up and caressed his face, looking almost sadly into his eyes. "Elijah…"

He sighed. "I want to trust you," he admitted. "I want to be with you. But I don't know how. There's always something giving me reason to doubt you."

Katherine took a deep breath and Elijah watched her chest rise and fall, her eyes darting upwards. "Compel me," she answered.

He blinked. "Sorry?"

"Compel me," she said again, this time a little clearer. "Do it. Just compel me to tell you the truth. I'm not on vervain, I promise. Just do it."

Elijah shook his head and turned away. "How is controlling your thoughts a step towards progress?" He asked.

"It's not controlling my thoughts, because I'm giving you consent," she insisted, pulling his face towards her, to force him to face her. "And I'm only going to tell you the same thing I've been telling you for days."

Elijah paused slightly, considering it. But he finally shook his head.

Katherine scoffed, disappointed. "Well, I don't know what else we can do," she exclaimed, angrily.

Elijah took a deep breath before letting his eyes drift down, admiring the curves of her body, under her rose gold kimono. He hooked his fingers in the knot around her waist and pulling it gently apart. She didn't react as he flicked the side of the gown away, revealing her short, silk nightgown. She was completely unbashful of her body, and of the fact that her breasts almost entirely arose from above the lacy trim.

"Is having sex really a better idea?" She whispered, finally moving her own hands under the tuxedo jacket of his, resting on his chest.

"Perhaps," he mused, his hand trailing down and touching the bare skin of her thigh for half a second before retreating entirely. "But we're not having sex."

"We're not?" She asked, confused.

He reached up and took her hands from his chest and placing them back to her sides. "You're tired and tipsy," he explained. "And I have a lot to do this morning." He kissed her forehead, just as he did when he told her goodbye, and walked out of the room to start his morning.

* * *

 **Chapter Eight and Caroline are coming as fast as they can.**

 **Please, please leave an opinion in the box below. Not to beg, but I love reviews. -Izzy x**


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this story! All of these nice reviews give me life; keep them coming!**

 **I'm not so sure about a Caroline/Gemini thing, but I did just come up with a really big plotline for Caroline, which I think all of you are going to enjoy. And I'm known for my slowburns - sorry all. But I think Kalijah take a big leap this chapter...**

 **Serena1854:** Yes! Short version, Katherine will definitely start using and practising her magic. However, this is a development, and not something that will just happen straight away. Yeah, she's powerful, but she can't do the impossible. Well... it depends how much time she has to think. But don't worry, she will start using her magic. Maybe not this chapter, but soon.

 **I used to be very anti-Hayley, but I'm slowly becoming pro-Hayley. Mainly because I liked her for the majority of Season 3, and I think she had a lot of potential, so I'm going to write her with that in mind. Camille, however, never had any potential and was never interesting or fun to watch. Sorry, but there's no chance of me ever liking her.**

 **Warning: This chapter is M-rated.**

 **Enjoy! I love youuuu! -Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Four – The Originals 3x05**

"They made such a beautifully spacious home in such a small space," the real estate agent – Margaret Dawson – was saying. "Two bedrooms, a large kitchen, two bathrooms. Don't you like it?"

Yes. For the price, it cost, Katherine actually did like the French-Quarter condo. From the outside, it was a pale white colour, with one floor and a triangular roof. It looked tiny from the outside, but was very spacious inside, like Dawson was saying. It had four thin wooden double-doors built into the façade. They were painted purple and were purely decorative. The two doors at the end had steps leading up to them and concealed the two blue front doors to the house. The two doors in the middle lead to windows, covered in lacy curtains.

The whole house was arranged in one row, with no hallways or odd shapes. A straight line of rooms, all leading onto each other. The two front doors were therefore very useful for the privacy of a second habitant, should Katherine ever get a roommate.

The first front door lead into a spacious living room, painted a light cream with dark hardwood floors and a beautiful furnace. To the left of the room was two sliding double doors which lead to the secondary bedroom. Across from that door was another, leading to a large, L-shaped kitchen with an adjoining bathroom and shower. Through the kitchen was another door leading to the master bedroom with an on-suit bathroom and ceiling fan. The second front-door lead to the same master bedroom, in fact.

"The money's in my account," Katherine informed the agent as she paced around the living room, inspecting the furnace. "Let me give you my details. I'll take it."

Dawson grinned. "Fantastic! Let's take a look at the paperwork, shall we?"

* * *

"So," Klaus scoffed unhappily, as him and Elijah walked into the compound, "it seems like my first sire wants you dead, and your first sire wants me dead. Makes you almost regret creating any vampires in the first place, doesn't it?"

Elijah opened his mouth to reply, but quickly fell short when they saw the dead body in the centre of their home. A woman with red hair and a blue dress, lying among a collection of blue lavender flowers. Klaus walked forward to inspect the body, instantly recognising the symmetry and hearing the message.

He knelt down and took the letter from the poor girl's hand, ignoring the slit wrists. He scanned over the writing and straightened up, handing the letter to Elijah to read as well.

"Roses are red," Elijah read aloud. "Lavender is blue. Come find me before I find you."

Klaus scowled darkly. Bloody Aurora. "I remember her a better poet," Klaus mused as Elijah knelt down to inspect the body himself.

"Oh, I wouldn't say this is lacking in poetry," his brother mused, thoughtfully. He closed the eyelids of the dead girl respectfully. Klaus, contrastingly, threw the poem back down onto the girl with little care.

"She wants us to find her," he summarised, beginning to walk away, tapping Elijah briefly on the shoulder. "So, lets."

Elijah, however, didn't get to his feet to follow him, but instead, questioned him. "Why so eager, Niklaus? Last time you even said her name was a thousand years ago, when you told me never to speak it again in your presence." He didn't turn to face Klaus as he spoke, to witness his reaction.

Klaus just blinked. "So, I'm to wait until she leaves another calling card in my home?" He demanded. The intrusion itself was vulgar and disturbing, and Klaus would not like to witness another.

Elijah looked down, his mind clearly elsewhere. "There's something you should know," he said. He finally straightened up to face Klaus. "When our mother seized control of my mind, releasing those monstrosities that lived behind the red door, I saw Aurora."

Klaus didn't pause before stepping forward to Elijah. "If you mean to confess a thousand-year-old secret that will divide us after our hard reconciliation, then forget it, brother. There is nothing you could have done involving her, that would be worse than what she did to me."

Elijah shook his head. "Please do not dismiss this Niklaus."

"Whatever it is," Klaus snapped, "it can wait. We have a plate in here, of our problems, and I mean to clear it. If it makes you feel any better," Klaus rested his hand on Elijah's shoulder, "we can kill Aurora together. Then neither of us need play her little mind games ever again. Hm?"

He let go of Elijah and headed towards the exit of the compound, his mind abuzz with whatever it was Elijah had done with Aurora, the thoughts unable to be tamed, but perhaps set aside. They had priorities, after all.

Outside the compound, luckily, was a distraction. Two members of the Strix, a man and woman, were waiting for him, perfectly silent. "You made it!" Klaus exclaimed with fake joy, beaming at the sight of them.

"You compelled us to," the woman said, clearly bitter.

Klaus smirked, nodding. "Indeed," he remembered. "Right, so when you find the wolf pack," he said, handing her a blood bag, "this is the blood you feed them. Then you kill them by simply snapping their necks, understood?"

"We will simply snap their necks," they said in unison.

"Very good." Klaus nodded in approval, handing them another blood bag. "When they resurrect, this is the blood you feed them, understand? Only give them a little bit each, it needs to last throughout the entire pack. Bring a few other humans along, to cater to their thirst. This blood isn't to feed them, but to save them. Understood?"

They both nodded, taking the blood bags and running off.

"Are they for your hybrids?" Elijah asked, joining him. "Shouldn't you be there in person?"

Klaus shrugged. "I gave them my blood, so the hybrids will be sired to me. I'll give them a week or so to get used to immortal life, and this weekend I'll go and meet them. If I have the time."

He had found a pack outside of Louisiana to turn, so no war struck out between himself and Hayley. The last thing he needed was another problem.

"Maybe I'll take Hope with me," Klaus mused. "Show her how it's done."

-0-0-0-0-0-

It only took a minute for Klaus and Elijah to arrive in the heart of the city, where the humans were preparing for Jazz Fest. Klaus spotted Lucien, and overheard Vincent sharing the origin story of Jazz Fest with Camille, telling her all about the axeman. The warlock who didn't kill for one day, in return for the best party New Orleans has ever thrown. But neither brother was interested in the crowd. They were looking around for a certain redhead.

"She could be anywhere," Elijah mused, looking around as well. "How exactly do you intend to find her?"

"She'll leave a mark," Klaus said, positively. "It is, after all, her favourite game." He stopped looking around when he noticed a specific perfume bottle. From afar, Klaus could still smell it. And it bore the very same scent as her long locks.

"This mark that you speak of," Elijah said, as Klaus read the details on the bottle, "I see nothing-"

"Hey Mikaelbitches," came a controversially welcome, interruptive voice. Katherine strolled up to them both and smirked. She was wearing a flowy white tank top with a very low V-neck and leather shorts, leaving her legs bare and her feet clad in black Lita boots. Her curly hair fell simply around her shoulders, but her face was covered in expensive looking sunglasses. Shopping bags dangled from each arm, holding many clothes, as far as either brother could see.

"Katerina," Klaus greeted. "Where have you been this morning?"

"Signing the paperwork on my new place, you'd be happy to know," she informed them. "Five hundred dollars below my budget, as well. But I spent that on my new sunglasses. Anyway, I'm going to take out my furniture fund and take a look around town with Freya. Want to come, Elijah? I would invite you Klaus but, well, I don't like you."

"Oh, the feelings mutual, love," Klaus claimed, smirking. "But as long as you get to your doctor's appointment this afternoon, we should be good."

"What doctor's appointment?" Elijah asked, clearly worried as he stepped forward.

"It's Monday," Klaus answered, simply. "Time for another blood transfusion. I agreed to let Katherine get it done by a doctor, as long as she sticks to her weekly appointments. She knows that if she misses one," he turned to Katherine, grinning, wiggling a finger at her like a naughty girl, "she loses her independence for good."

Katherine scowled at him. "I won't miss it," she claimed, walking past him to continue shopping.

Elijah turned to Klaus. "Do you have this covered?" He asked. "I'd like to make sure Katerina's safe, considering we have a new lunatic psychopath in town."

Klaus smirked. "I have a new lead," he answered, turning to the perfume shop. "Enjoy the day, brother."

Elijah stalked off and Klaus walked into the perfume shop. There was no little bell, or hum of life. Just eerie silence. The smell was intoxicating, in a very bad sense of the word. With his senses heightened, the alcohol stung his nose.

But when a petite redhead walked out from behind the shelves, the smell was the very last thing on his mind. Aurora gushed at the sight of him, grinning like a fool. "I knew you'd find me!" She exclaimed, delighted. "1000 years… could it really have been so long? Looking at you now, it feels like yesterday."

"If yesterday were the apocalypse," Klaus mused.

"Are you saying that leaving me felt like the end of the world?" She teased.

"Leaving you _alive_ ," he reasoned, stepping forward.

Aurora laughed and the whip. "I notice Elijah's not with you," she commentated. "Was the reluctant to tag along?"

Klaus's anger grew at the memory of his brother's secret. "He would rather spend the day with his new girlfriend. But, as I understand it, the two of you share some ancient secret. Do enlighten me, if you can."

"Katerina Petrova?" Aurora asked, easily changing the subject. "Hm, I heard all about her. Now she's in New Orleans, right? She will be the complete undoing of you and your brother, you know."

Klaus smirked. "Well, there you are mistaken. We reconciled in a deal for her freedom. Her arrival seems to have bought us together, in fact."

Aurora laughed again. "Oh, Elijah has his secret. But he doesn't know about yours. I do. And he will, by the end of the day, I guarantee it. So, good luck trying to shame him, Nik. And good luck getting him to forgive you."

"I've been waiting for days for my secret to be uncovered, but it has yet to come out," Klaus admitted, placing his hands behind his back. "When it does, I shall be ready to deal with my older brother's temper tantrum. Some say he's the mature one. But I'm guessing our secrets will even each other out."

"He wouldn't want me to tell you," Aurora said, teasing him.

Klaus smirked. They both paced around a little display, narrowly avoiding each other. "Let me guess," Klaus mused. "In the time between being with me and seeking refuge in the arms of your brother, you slept with mine."

Aurora looked taken aback. "Your accusations are so tedious. The truth is, I've never been with your brother. At least, not in the way that you think."

"Why are you here?" Klaus asked.

"The witches here," she mused, "they celebrate the Feast of Gifts. It made me remember that very intimate gift we gave each other so long ago."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "You've had a thousand birthdays since. If I forgot to send a card, it's because I forgot about you. Is that why you're here? Is that why you're here? To remind me?"

Aurora scowled, pacing away. "I am here for the same reason Lucien and Tristan are. To protect my sire. Now, if you'd turned me that night like I asked, I would be here to protect you. But since you didn't, I need to know. Where in the hell is Rebekah?!"

* * *

When Elijah caught up with Katerina, she handed him half of her shopping bags without a word, the weight clearly weighing her down. He explained who Aurora was and her connection to Klaus. He told her about her arrival in the city and the mayhem she'd caused so far.

"Yeah, I heard stories about her," Katherine told him. "Crazy bitch." Elijah nodded, refusing the dismiss the disrespect. Katherine smirked at him. "Come on, we're meeting Freya at _Orleans Furniture and More_. I kinda like your sister, you know. She's fun."

The shop was a half hour walk away from the Quarter, during which Katherine talked about her new property and everything she'd bought that afternoon. Elijah listened quietly, watching out for any unusual activity, or any sign of Aurora. Nothing, fortunately.

When they arrived outside the furniture warehouse, on a big empty street, they found Freya waiting outside. She was wearing the same thing she wore the day before, with sunglasses covering her face. There was a hot coffee in one hand and her heels in her other hand. Her feet were bare, and she didn't seem time mind at all.

"Walk of shame?" Katherine asked, laughing as they approached.

Freya turned towards them and smiled vaguely. "Don't you judge me," she scowled, teasingly.

Katherine just laughed and touched Freya's shoulder, comfortingly. "Trust me, I can't. Elijah's tagging along, by the way. Hope you don't mind."

Freya looked over Katherine's shoulder to her younger brother and pointed. "Don't judge me," she ordered, pouting.

"I didn't say anything," Elijah reminded her. They followed Katherine inside and looked around the large warehouse of furniture. Beds and tables, chairs and cupboards. "This place looks cheap."

"Yeah," Katherine agreed. "I'm a human now, and Klaus only gave me a small budget. It's all expensive stuff, just… pawned off."

Katherine and Freya tested out some of the beds and armchairs in the back, while Elijah summarised the best value tables and chairs.

The women collapsed into a pair of back-to-back armchairs as Elijah stood on the other side of the warehouse as they talked. He eavesdropped slightly, but gave them the sense of privacy.

"…he is, isn't he?" Katherine was saying, jokingly. "Do you like him?"

"Oh, god no," Freya groaned, almost laughing. "Do not tell Klaus I said this, though."

"I can't promise it won't come up in our evening tea and gossip," Katherine said, sarcastically. Freya rolled her eyes. "Why don't you say something to him?"

"I literally just said he was hot," Freya said. "Not that I liked him. He's a creep. Anyway, what's going on with you and…" She trailed off and Elijah caught her eye as she looked over to him.

Katherine noticed him eavesdropping and said: "Well, I'm manipulating him into loving me, so I can kill him and run away with one of his siblings. I haven't decided which one yet. Your odds are looking good."

Elijah smirked and looked away, back to the very ugly lamp he was standing by.

He hadn't been aware of Freya and Katerina's budding friendship until just then. He knew they attacked Camille and Vincent once, to talk to Lucien. And he remembered sending Katherine with Hope to Freya.

Neither of them had any friends in New Orleans anyway, so it only made sense if they grew close to each other…

He liked it. It took a lot for Katherine to become friends with someone, and he doubted they were there yet, but if Katherine genuinely liked you then she'd kill for you. And giving Freya a friendship like that would be good for his sister.

The group went around with the shop keeper to give him a list of everything they wanted. He said he'd have it delivered within 72 business hours but Elijah compelled him to put a rush on that, to have it all by that night.

"We still have a lot to talk about," Elijah murmured to Katherine as Freya talked to the shopkeeper about that lamp.

Katherine just shrugged. "Actually, I think I've apologised enough. I have nothing left to say now. It's your turn."

"To apologise?" He asked, clearly confused. Freya returned and Katherine took the opportunity to start a conversation with her and not answer Elijah.

* * *

After an afternoon of reciting their relationship, Klaus found himself and Aurora pressed against the wall of the perfume shop, making out aggressively. But Klaus broke away the second his conscious caught up to him and he realised what he was doing. He slammed Aurora against a nearby shelf and held her there as she panted for breath.

"We could have been the greatest love story ever told," he mused, angrily. "Perhaps you've forgotten why we're not?"

Aurora scowled as she spat the answer, angry at _him_ somehow. "Oh, I remember quite well," she replied. "The night you left without me… you didn't even bother to look back."

"You broke my heart that night," Klaus retorted, turning it back on her. He would not be made to feel guilty for her verbal abuse. "You turned against me." He let go of her and walked away, pointing at her angrily. "You should count yourself lucky. No one has spoken to me that way in 1000 years and lived."

"Yes, I was rather cruel, wasn't I?" She snapped, turning towards him bitterly. "Some might say uncharacteristically so."

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at?"

"I was not the architect of our heartbreak," she informed him, full of lies. "In the moments before you asked me to flee with you, I saw your brother."

Klaus's face fell as he realised what this was. The secret Elijah had hidden behind the red door. The thing he was so ashamed of. The secret he was hiding.

"I chased after him as he told me of your need to leave," Aurora informed him. "I offered to come with you, more than excited. He was angered at the idea. I wasn't family. I told him otherwise. I was _your_ family. You had told me things, trusted me, with things you could never tell him. I told him that I wouldn't betray you and that true love transcends blood, but he wouldn't listen to me. He just had one question. What could I have known about you that he couldn't? He demanded I tell him. Compelled me, even."

Klaus paused, taking a deep breath before she said it. "And so you told him."

Aurora was on the verge of tears, sounding hysterical. "I couldn't stop the words from flying out of my mouth. Words I swore not to tell to another living soul. About how you killed your mother and blamed your father. And you had to lie to them all so they would flee with you. He was so angry with you, that he told me to see you as nothing but the deceitful monster you were. And so, I did. When you came to me, not minutes later, begging me to go with you… I could not say yes. I had been compelled otherwise. I believe it was the first time compulsion was ever used. And when he understood what he did, he did not come and undo it."

Klaus paused, sighing. "So that's it?" He asked. "Elijah's secret?"

Aurora nodded, still about to cry. "Yes. You made him suffer the loss of a mother. And this was his revenge."

* * *

Klaus had signed Katherine up to the most expensive doctor in the city, and had compelled the entire staff – even the receptionists and cleaners – to be okay with the regular removals of blood and to not ask any questions. As well at ensuring the delivery of the blood directly to Klaus's hand.

Elijah escorted her there a little early after the furniture shop, and they were forced to wait outside to avoid the stuffy waiting room full of sick people, that he refused to sit in, in distaste.

It was a busy day in New Orleans, with everybody buzzing over the Feast of Gifts, but nobody paid them any attention, which gave them an okay opportunity to talk about what Katerina said earlier, and what had stayed on the front of his mind ever since.

"What did you mean when you said I had an apology to make to you?" Elijah asked, simply, his hands in the pockets of his suit as he studied her.

She looked up, unsure of how to reply instantly. "You really want to talk about this here?" She asked, looking around.

"I think so, yes," he answered, unconcerned with any pedestrian.

Katherine sighed, rolling her eyes at him before explaining. "I did my part, Elijah," she said. "I paid my penance for my fault in the relationship, and I fought for you. But damn, do you owe me."

"I owe you?" He asked, doubtingly and slightly outraged. "You give me too many reasons to mistrust you, and then blame me when I don't hand myself to you completely. You're the woman who betrays every single man she's with, and yet, I don't have the right to be wary? Is that what you want me to apologise for?"

"Are you serious?" She asked. "Because you've never screwed me over in your life?" There was a pause as he gave no reply or sign that he understood what she meant. She sighed, realising she'd have to spell it out for him. "Okay, let's start at the beginning, shall we?"

"The beginning?"

"Yes," she answered, already mad at the lack of his immediate apology. "You may have forgotten, but it wasn't just Klaus who spent centuries hunting me down, Elijah, it was you. You hunted me like an animal. _Terrorized_ me. I didn't let you save me, and you punished me for it. You just can't stop shaming me for everything I've done. Everything I needed to do to survive _you_ and your brother. You made me this way; the way you so hate."

Elijah didn't reply immediately as he thought over what she said. He'd always thought of her hardening up voluntarily to distance herself from any emotional relationship, so she can survive without responsibilities. But he never really thought of her being forced to distance herself, without a say in the matter. And if that was the case, could that really be his fault? He'd done everything possible to protect her, even when it hurt his brother.

"What about the time I killed Jeremy Gilbert?" She asked. This fact was the hardest to hear for sure. Before Katherine even said it, Elijah could feel the blow, the sudden realisation at the simple name she dropped. "The boy who killed your brother," Katherine added, and it was like she'd punched Elijah in the stomach with the strength of all his siblings combined. Jeremy Gilbert. He remembered how horribly he'd treated her for his death. "And somehow, I'm the bad guy? Family above all, Elijah, right? Or only when it comes to Klaus?"

Elijah paused before speaking, ignoring that last remark in favour of the one before. "The Gilbert boy killed Kol?" He translated, barely more than a whisper.

" _Bullshit_ ," Katherine exclaimed. "Like you didn't know."

Elijah felt himself struggling for breath. "Niklaus claimed it was our least favourite siblings, I assumed it was the Salvatore brothers, I… Elena helped?"

"Yeah, she's a bitch?!" She reminded him, like it was completely obvious. "It didn't matter that you saved her ass and her family. No, the Salvatores didn't kill Kol, but I'll tell you what Damon did. He tortured me. Abused me on my deathbed, when I was weak and dying. And still, you didn't come to say goodbye. Or to help me? No, Hayley Marshall was more important, right? So you stayed behind to babysit her as your siblings came to torture me some more. I'm not innocent, Elijah. But at least I apologised for what I did. At least I tried. You hurt me, and then played me for a fool. You never had any intention of trying, did you?"

Elijah blinked, confused. "You died?" He asked. He was beginning to feel like the fool with all the information he didn't know. "Excuse me."

He turned around in the street and walked away, leaving her alone with her doctors appointment, and him alone with his thoughts and regret.

* * *

"Niklaus," Elijah said, angrily into his phone. "Would you kindly return my call." It wasn't a question, but a demand. He hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket, fuming from the news of the evening. But he wouldn't let it show, with company behind him. "Marcellus, what do you want?"

"We got a problem," Marcel's voice came. Elijah turned to face him, unhappily. The last thing he needed was another problem. "I got one of my guys to follow Tristan. They followed him to this place. He goes in. Never comes out."

"Why is this significant?" Elijah asked, rolling his eyes. He couldn't get the image of an suffering, dying Katerina being tortured out of him mind.

"He's obviously using it as a way to get to somewhere else," Marcel explained. "The building has hidden passageways leading out the back. They were used in the twenties to hide booze to get it to a storehouse. And you'll never guess who just bought that storehouse?"

"Tristan?" Elijah guessed.

Marcel shook his head. "Kingmaker Land Development," Marcel answered. "Lucien Castle. Now, that sure as hell isn't a coincidence. Either they're coming up with some kind of truce, or they've been working together this whole time."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah sat alone in the compound, at the mini bar, enjoying a drink of century old scotch. His fourth glass at that. He heard Klaus enter behind him, but didn't turn to face him. He didn't want to look at him. Not yet.

"Aurora told you," he guessed, sighing. "I would suggest letting ancient mistakes die for the sake of keeping our family together when all people want to do is tear us apart. But I realise now, that you've been happily tearing this family apart by yourself. You know what's interesting? Katherine Pierce died. I just called Stefan Salvatore to confirm. She died, you knew, and you didn't let me say goodbye."

There was a pause before Klaus's reply came. "Aurora predicted this secret would not remain hidden for another day. But who are you to judge me?"

"Just last year, only last year, you let the love of my life die, without even telling me," Elijah said, trying to stress the importance of the situation. "Going to extreme lengths to keep it from me. You went to her, to torture her."

Klaus scoffed, disgusted with Elijah's perspective. "She's always been more my enemy than your lover," he claimed, clearly full of lies.

Elijah got to his feet and turned to face his little brother. He was more disappointed than anything else. "I didn't realise you saw me as an enemy too. Otherwise you wouldn't have attempted to hurt me like this."

Klaus laughed at his brother's pain. He must have seen him as such a hypocrite. "Oh _please_ , you can say _nothing_. I only found out today that you compelled one of the loves on my life to stay far away from me."

Elijah raised an eyebrow, considering the parallel. "Perhaps one would consider us even. A love, for a love. But the situations were very different. I had just found out that you killed our family, and put us all in danger for your selfish gain. And yet you blame me for being angry? Somehow, I am at fault?"

"Don't you-" Klaus started.

"And last year, we were supposed to be at the very height of our good terms," Elijah continued, ignoring the interruption. "Our family finally reunited, and on the path to happiness, and you decided to be the one to tear that down. _Again_. It's always _you_ , isn't it? You are always the one to destroy this family. I used to think Mikael was the problem. But you're the problem. You're _always_ the problem."

"You're right brother, the situations were very different," Klaus agreed snarling through his teeth. "I fell in love with a beautiful girl that I could trust, and who accepted me. You fell in love with a bitch who betrayed us – betrayed _you_. I did you a _favour_."

" _That's not your bloody decision_! IS IT?! KLAUS?" His voice raised more than it had in a very long time and he didn't recall being this angry at Klaus more than once in his life. The time when Klaus informed him his siblings were at the bottom of the ocean, completely irretrievable. In a thousand years, he'd been this mad twice.

Klaus seemed to notice this, so Elijah was forced to watch the walls go up. His expression flickered for a split second as he realised what he'd done, before resorting back to anger in order to protect himself. "You mentally controlled my love to hate me. Where was the decision there? You are the _greatest traitor_ in my life."

Klaus ran forward and threw Elijah across the bar, destroying the piece of furniture and every piece of glass on it. Elijah jumped up almost instantly, jumping in the air to give the punch he forced Klaus to receive more impact.

Klaus fell to the floor and Elijah picked him up by the skin on the back of his neck, dragging him along the nearby coffee table, breaking it and everything on it, and watching Klaus fall to the floor in a heap.

Klaus got up and growled. "You don't understand why it's so different, do you? Katerina _ruined_ you. But what you did to Aurora. To me? You set my course! You ruined _me_!"

"I _protected_ you," Elijah corrected, shouting angrily. "I protected this family. Aurora was the sister of a lunatic, and a powerful lunatic at that! Father was in pursuit. What was I supposed to do?! Despite of all your despicable deeds, I alone have stood beside you. Not anymore."

Klaus scoffed. "Your secret betrayal was the course of everything I became," he explained, reminding Elijah of how broken he really was. "You did what you did to _punish_ me. Don't you dare lie. I did what I did to punish _her_! The woman who tore us apart in the first bloody place! Do you not see the difference between family and foe?"

"How difficult it is when you are both," Elijah mused. "But she's been more family to me than you. I see that now."

Klaus flashed towards Elijah and punched him so hard his neck almost snapped. But it didn't, and Elijah used to force to kick Klaus in the stomach, winding him.

They grabbed each other by the neck and Klaus leaned down to bite his brothers arm. Elijah cried out at the burning sensation and Klaus went behind him, forcing him into a headlock.

When the pain began to subside, Elijah flipped Klaus across the room, watching him slam into the wall and fall to the floor. Only then did Elijah approach him, looking down upon him.

"All this blame?" He asked, coldly. "You blame me for you killing our mother. You blame me for you trying to kill the love of my life. At least I didn't spend five hundred years tormenting yours. At least I didn't kill her family. Look at yourself. I have carried you for centuries when you have done nothing but hurt me. No more. You want to fight?" He leaned forward and spat the last word. "Then so be it."

* * *

The furniture to her home arrived that evening, as predicted, and after taking one glace at her tits, the delivery men decided to kindly help her move it all into place.

Within the next two hours, her new home was fully furnished and looking very stylish.

She'd gone all out with the master bedrooms. She bought a luxury red-and-gold rug to match the new sheets on her biggest, most expensive bed the shop had. She piled it up with two mattresses and a whole lot of pillows. It was pushed against the window, facing the furnace. There was a very big wardrobe in one corner, next to the door and two identical bedside tables with matching lamps.

Just after the delivery men left, there was a knock at the second front door and Katherine rolled her eyes, figuring one of them just left something behind. But instead, Elijah stood there with a bag of groceries, looking almost sheepish.

"I didn't get flowers," he told her, holding up the brown paper bag. "But I purchased some stuff for your refrigerator."

Katherine paused before taking the bag and skimming through it, walking into her kitchen and unpacking it. "What do you want, Elijah?" She called.

"You were right," he told her, looking sad. "You are owed an apology. Things I should have owned up to, many years ago. Regrets are long over-due."

She licked her lips, looking unsure. "Why are you just standing there?" She asked, leaning against the worktop.

He blinked. "This is your home, you need to invite me in."

"Oh yeah," she remembered. "I'm never going to get used to that. Come on in."

Elijah stepped inside, closing the door behind him and entering the kitchen. He didn't look into her eyes as he moved, just down at his hands. He looked sad, and completely unsure of himself. It was a look she'd never seen on him before, and not one that she liked.

"Feel free to start apologising any time you like," she mused, crossing her arms and waiting.

He took a deep breath, looking up finally looking up, and she saw the glisten in his eyes, the most surprising thing she had ever seen. "I didn't pay enough attention to Kol when he was alive," he admitted, his voice sounding like he was choking. "I didn't ask enough questions when he died. You did him more justice than I did, and that's not how things are supposed to be. I wasn't supposed to do that. And I'm sorry to him for that too. That's a regret I'll carry with me forever."

Katherine paused, not quite knowing how to answer that. "You're a good brother, Elijah."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not," he contradicted. "And I've never been a good person to you. I'm not noble, or moral. It's a hard truth, but I have a lot to answer for. I'm sorry for treating you as badly as my brother, and then blaming you for your pain. I'm sorry for not keeping an eye on you after I left, and allowing you to die. I'm sorry for blaming you for our problems. I'm sorry for not trusting you, when you gave me reason to. I'm sorry for treating you like property." He hung his head in shame again, and Katherine bit her lip.

"Elijah," she whispered, his own pain burning through her chest.

"But above all," he continued. "I apologise for giving up on us, when you kept fighting."

Katherine took a deep breath, sighing. "Thank you," she whispered.

"I waged a war on Klaus," he informed her. "I confronted him about the information he hid from me. And he was angry at a mistake a made a thousand years ago. You were right. I have lost so much of my life to Klaus. Not anymore."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah made dinner, to thank her for her offer. She told him he could stay with her if he wanted, to allow him a space away from Klaus's reach. So, Elijah found what little ingredients Katherine had in her home, and started boiling some pasta for spaghetti Bolognese. She watched him from the adjoining bedroom, lying across her bed and watching him cook, his back straight, his sleeves rolled up, his tie loosened.

He looked so natural and at ease in her home, and the thought sent a warmth running over her skin, making her hair stand on end. She beamed and got to her feet, joining him in the kitchen and nudging him with her hip. "Need any help?" She asked.

He glanced quickly at her before handing her the wooden spoon and moving over to the chopping board. She turned to the pasta but only managed to focus on it for half a second before Elijah's strong forearms wrapped around her thin waist, pulling her against his hard body. His lips fell to her neck. His kiss was hungry and demanding, fierce in a way he rarely was.

Claiming her as his.

One of his hands slipped up her stomach, pausing on her breast, before reaching to her neck. He brushed her hair away and tilted her head up, giving him lots of space for his tongue to dart out, licking her flesh before two fangs pierce her skin.

The pain subsided as soon as it came and she moaned in the pleasure that replaced it. She leaned her head on his shoulder as he drank and held onto his arm around her waist. " _Elijah_ ," she whispered, breathily. She arched her back and pressed herself against him, trying to close the non-existent distance between them. "Oh, _Elijah_!"

She panted when he pulled away, rubbing herself against him as his tongue darted out again to catch any stray drops of blood. He kept his arm around her waist as she swayed, and he could probably smell her arousal.

He bit into his own wrist and allowed her to drink as he kissed away the ache of her neck. Then he spun her around and picked her up, spreading her legs and placing her down on the worktop.

He caught her in a fierce kiss, dominating her mouth with his tongue. She ran her hands through his hair and he pulled her kimono apart and slid his hands along her leg, reaching up her nightgown and grabbing her panties, ripping them apart he pulled them away. His thumb circled her wet folds, landing on her clit as he slipped on finger inside of her.

She moaned, begging for more as he fingers undid his shirt buttons as quickly as possible, pulling it out of his pants and reaching to his belt. She tugged his pants down, just below his ass.

Elijah's spare hand reached up to the hem of her nightgown and pulled it down, ripping the fabric to expose her breasts. His mouth fell to her nipples, suckling and tracing the areola with his tongue.

As soon as she freed is long, hard member, he pushed her back, straightened up, and slammed into her.

She cried out in surprise and grabbed his shoulders to steady herself as she began grinding against him. Seeming regretful of his sudden entrance, he set a slower, gentle pace inside of her. Katherine rolled her eyes and slapped his ass, glaring. "Harder," she ordered. "Faster."

Elijah sped up his movements, pumping in and out of her harder each time, seeking her climax as selfishly as his own.

She kisses him aggressively, clenching her muscles to bring him closer to his release. Her moans rang out, complimenting his groans.

They unintentionally met their climaxes together, their foreheads resting against each other's as they panted, both seeing stars. She purred in his ear and he lifted her up, carrying her back to the bedroom, allowing the pasta to burn in favour of round two.

* * *

 **I'm really bad at writing smut, so constructive criticism is always welcome. I'm working hard to improve though, I promise.**

 **I'd love a few reviews. -Izzy x**


	6. Chapter 5

**AN: I intend to write these characters as in-character as possible, the good and the bad. Elijah's hypocrisy, Katherine's secrecy, etc, etc.**

 **So glad you guys are enjoying it! I enjoy writing it.**

 **And yes, I included a _Romeo and Juliet_ reference with Kalijah. I'm not even sorry. Credit goes to Shakespeare. -Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Five – The Originals 3x06**

The compound was in ruin, destroyed for them affairs of the last few nights. Furniture was broken, glass was everywhere, clothes were strewn across the floor. In the top floor bedroom, Klaus lowered his phone, slipping it into his pocket as his face darkened. A naked Aurora sat up in his bed, grinning at him.

"Why are you so far away?" She asked, pouting. "Come closer."

Klaus just blinked, refusing to face her. "I think it best you remain out of arms reach," he claimed, scowling.

He heard Aurora sigh behind him. "So, I guess you heard about the busy day everyone had. Let me take away that scowl. I'll tell you everything I know."

 **24 Hours Earlier**

When Katherine woke up, she immediately grinned, remembering the affairs of the night before. She clutched her heavy sheets closer and found herself lying across his hard stomach. He played with her hair, brushing the curls into place and working his way through some of the morning knots. She smiled, contently and tried to fall back to sleep.

"I should leave soon," he mused, unhappily.

"No," she whined, pulling him as close as possible. "Stay."

She felt Elijah smile and looked up to see it, resting her chin where her head was on his chest. He looked down to meet her gaze and eventually his smile fell. "I need to try and call a truce with Klaus," he informed her, clearly in distaste. "In the name of the damn prophecy."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "You can do that in the morning," she claimed.

Elijah's eyebrows knitted together as he studied her, his eyes flicking to the window above the bed. "It is the morning, darling Katerina," he told her, listening to the soft birds outside begin their morning song. "Don't you hear the birds?"

Katherine huffed, shaking her head at his confusion. "Those are the nightingales, my Lord," she insisted. "Not the lark."

Now Elijah rolled his own eyes, sitting and forcing Katherine to roll off him. "I can't stay here," he said, looking down at her fondly.

"Why not?!" She whined, sitting up and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, leaning her head on one.

Elijah held up his forearm to show her the burning, sizzling wound in his flesh. Katherine jumped at the sight of it, perking up at the thing she least expected. "Because of this," Elijah said. "The bite healed for a while and returned a couple hours ago. If I don't leave soon, you'll be on the receiving end of my madness. And given our history I'd say it could get brutal."

Katherine paused taking a hold of his hand and inspecting the bite herself. "Klaus won't make it easy for you to get his blood," she said. "Maybe you should just ride it out. You don't owe him anything. I'll call Hayley if you want – she's almost strong enough to handle your madness…"

Elijah shook his head. "No, I can't risk a war with my brother, right now. Not with this prophecy looming over us. I'm sure he feels the same. I should be going."

Katherine groaned but relented, letting him walk away. She got up as well and wrapped the sheet around herself. Elijah was dressed in an instant and she walked him to the front door, kissing him goodbye.

"Good luck," she wished him before he left.

And when he did, she closed the door, dropped the sheet, and started running the water in her new bath. She only got to have a single moment to herself before a phone started ringing.

She rolled her eyes, pulling her back over and flicking through it. Aside from the usual purse, gum, sunglasses, make up, hair clips and hand cream, Katherine had three phones, two guns, a number of fake ID, and a detailed floorplan of a bank in New York, but she was holding _that_ for a friend.

She ignored the call and texted the caller, labelled 'M' instead.

 _What do you want? -K_

The reply came a few short seconds later. _Call me -M_

Katherine clicked her tongue. _No. Why? -K_

 _Meet me today. It's an emergency. -M_

Katherine huffed, pissed. _The Graveyard, noon. Don't be late. You'll have five minutes. -K_

She put her phone down and sank into the bath, feeling the clear water rise to her neck and found herself grinning again when she recalled her encounter with Elijah the night before.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Although Freya was beginning to get used to the kinds of fights her brothers had, she still wasn't expecting to come home to the entire compound trashed, furniture broken, blood strewn everywhere. She walked slowly through the courtyard, noticing the mess and disarray.

She found her two younger brothers in the dining area, both with shots of alcohol in front of them. They were both bloody, their clothes ripped apart. One of Elijah's fingers were at a strange angle, but he popped that back into place as Klaus slit his wrist, bleeding into a cup.

Freya rolled her eyes and joined them. "May I ask what happened?"

"We had a little chat about the past last night," Klaus explained, seeming quite cheery for the occasion. "Elijah returned this morning to make up. We just finished an hour of… reconciliations."

"We are attempting to make peace," Elijah added, downing another shot and inspecting the bite on his arm. "Tristan and Lucien are looking for our ends, and in truth, we would do better to try and move on from quarrels."

"Elijah wrong me; I wronged him," Klaus concluded. "All is said and done. We must come to an understanding on the real issue."

"And after all this civil discourse, what understanding did you come to?" Freya asked.

"That we expose and destroy out first sired," Elijah informed her.

Klaus handed Elijah the glass of his blood and nodded. "Couldn't agree with you more. You see, gentlemen know when it's time to call a truce. And turn all fury in a more useful direction."

They both raised their glasses and clinked them together in a toast, downing their final drink of the argument.

Before noon, Katherine found Hayley and walked with her for a little while. She was heading to meet Davina, the two of them firing up a budding friendship. Katherine was planning on asking Hayley to keep an eye on Elijah for the day, but apparently, she was too busy.

Hayley had asked her to come, though, to meet Davina properly. Katherine had shrugged and agreed, having nothing better to do for another three hours.

"Hey Davina, it's me," Hayley said, when she left a message for the little witch. "I'm running a little late. I should be there soon. And I'm bringing a friend who wants to meet you…" She trailed off, noticing the reflection of somebody watching her in the window of a shop. "On second thought, I'll be a little longer." She hung up and turned to Katherine. "Kat, wait here."

Katherine obliged, quite happily saving her own skin and she leaned against the building, bringing her phone out and finding Elijah's contact number.

 _How did things go with Klaus?_ She asked in a text.

 _Okay. Trouble with Rebekah, however. I'll tell you later. -E_

There was a pause as Katherine watched Hayley duck into an alleyway, followed by some middle-aged Asian guy in black. She considered texting 'M' so see if he knew anything about Hayley's stalker, but decided against it. He was following Hayley. Not her. She was fine…

On the other side of the street, however, she saw Klaus walking side by side with Aurora, which made her look twice. Since when were those two all chummy again?

She shrugged, remembering that she didn't care.

After about a minute, Hayley stepped out of the alleyway, dragging an unconscious body with her. "I bit him," she informed Katherine. "We gotta take him to Marcel first, he's a member of the Strix. I'll call Davina and let her know we can't make it."

"What's Marcel going to be able to do?" Katherine asked, pulling a length of rope out of her handbag and handing it to Hayley, who tied his wrists and ankles.

"Maybe tell us what he wants," Hayley answered. "If he's not betraying his _new_ family."

It was a fifteen-minute walk to Marcel's hideout, during which Katherine helped drag the body as Hayley compelled everyone not to notice the abduction. When they arrived, Marcel helped move the guy into a chair and fix the ropes accordingly.

"You make remember him from that pretentious excuse of a party," Hayley said, pacing behind the guy and watching Marcel carefully.

"Shen Min," Marcel mused, almost fascinated by their new prisoner. "Eight-hundred years old. According to Tristan, he was a torture consultant."

"I don't care if he's a Gemini who likes long walks on the beach," Hayley snapped, scowling at him. "Marcel. Why was he following me?"

"I don't know," Marcel claimed.

"You don't know?" Hayley questioned. "Or you're sworn to the code of silence."

"Hey, easy," Marcel soothed, offended. "We're on the same side here."

Hayley stepped forward, challengingly. "Then prove it."

Katherine, who was stood somewhere in the background on her phone before then, finally spoke up. "Hey, I gotta go," she said. "If you ever get to Davina, tell her I'll meet her some other time."

Before she could leave, Hayley walked over to her, from Marcel. "Hey, you okay?" She asked, unsure of the sudden change in attitude.

Katherine just nodded, putting her phone away and pulling out her wallet to get a cab. "Yeah, I just have somewhere to be," she answered, vaguely. "Good luck with your stalker."

Hayley nodded. "Yeah okay. Hey, if you need someone to come and kick an ass for you, give me a call, okay?"

Katherine huffed but smiled politely before leaving and hailing a taxi.

"It's called the city of the dead," Klaus mused, walking with Aurora through the pathways between the large gravestones and tombs, reserved for the richest civilians of New Orleans. It was an eerie space at night, but during the day it was calm, beautiful even, and refreshingly simple, ironically.

Klaus didn't know Katherine wasn't too far away, hiding behind a tomb and trying not to draw attention to herself from the couple. They were everywhere today! She waited until they were far away before getting to her feet and wrapping her jacket tighter around her shoulders, sitting down on the steps leading up to another tomb.

She entwined her fingers and took a deep breath, thinking to herself. If she sat Elijah down and told him now, everything from the start, he might be inclined to help her. He might take her out of town to hide her. He might even ask for Klaus's help.

Or he would be angrier than before. Mad that she put them in danger, even if that wasn't true. He might still help her, but he would not be doing it happily.

Maybe she should wait until he told her he loved her. But maybe then, he'd be too angry about the fact it took her so long to tell him, and not when it was relevant, like with Tristan and the Strix.

Maybe she should just wait and then pretend she didn't know.

But then he wouldn't believe he…

"Katerina," came a voice from the side.

Katherine looked up at 'M', an average-height man with dark hair, an Eastern European complexion and a dark suit. He didn't smile in greeting, but rather studied her with an emotionless expression of pure studying nature.

"Markos," Katherine greeted the ex-leader of the Travelers, narrowing her eyes in distaste. "Sit."

Markos did so, taking a seat next to her on the step and bringing out a bottle of Scotch, offering her some. She refused it but he took a large swig.

"Have we ever been this close to each other, without one of us drinking?" Katherine asked, thoughtfully thinking back.

Markos almost smirked. "What would Nadia think of us?" He asked.

After a slight pause, Katherine reached over and snatched the alcohol out of his hand, chugging a fair amount for passing it back. "Don't talk to me about Nadia, Markos," she snapped, angrily. "I'm not in the mood."

Markos took the bottle back, raising an eyebrow. "I would have expected you to have tried to resurrect her by now," he claimed.

There was another long pause as Katherine looked down at her hands, twisting her thumbs and biting her lip. Truthfully, she'd thought about it more than anything since she arrived in New Orleans, but it was always something she pushed to the back of her mind.

"By the time I died," she replied, "I had gotten the long-awaited opportunity to get to know my daughter. I ate with her, ran with her, talked to her. I bonded with her, and got to really know her. I loved her, Markos. And because of that, I died completely content."

Markos blinked, refusing to look at her. "Then why did you come back?" He asked.

"Because Hell hurt," she answered, snappily. "Like a bitch, it hurt. And I didn't want to spend an eternity in that kind of pain. I came back for me, not for closure. Nadia, on the other hand… Nadia found peace. She's happy. She doesn't need to be resurrected."

Markos waited for a full minute before replying. "Hell hurt," he agreed. "But I returned because I didn't have what you did. My daughter died before I even realised she was mine. I never got the chance to meet her."

"So you want to bring her back?" Katherine asked, taking another drink from him.

He shrugged. "I haven't decided yet."

"If you do," she mused, "I'll help. She's my daughter, too, Markos."

Markos turned to Katherine, his eyes narrowing as he studied her. "Is that why you helped me?" He asked. "For Nadia?"

Katherine rolled her eyes and snapped. "Forget about Nadia, Markos," she ordered. "What did you want to tell me?"

Markos looked away, sucking his teeth. He rarely portrayed any kind of facial expression, so he must have been really upset that day. She guessed that Nadia had been on the very front of his mind, ever since she told him the truth about her heritage. "What are you doing with the oldest Mikaelson boy?" He asked. "He wasn't part of the plan."

Katherine laughed. "So, what? You're stalking me now?"

"You specifically said to leave Elijah out of this," he reminded her. "And now you're sharing a bed with him."

"You sound like a jealous boyfriend," Katherine accused. "I'm with Elijah because I like Elijah. And sleeping with him won't screw up the plan at all."

"It better not" Markos snapped. "The beast is in town, Katherine. One of his lackeys came looking for me this morning. He'll be after you just as soon."

Katherine rolled her eyes, taking another drink. "You need to chill," she told him, leaning back. "This is what we've been preparing for. This is the entire reason we're here. We knew this was going to happen."

He scowled, unsure. "I'm still part of the plan, aren't I?" He asked. "I know you, Katerina. You drop everyone who might put you endanger. You and I still have arrangements for me, don't we?"

"Yes!" She snapped. "I told you Tristan was the way to go. You're the one who's waiting."

"I don't even know who Tristan is!"

She huffed, handing the bottle to him. "He's the leader of the Strix, the oldest and strongest alliance of vampires in the world. He's also nearing a thousand years old, and crazily strong. I'll text you all his relations, and we'll get you into his body tonight. You can't be touched there."

"And you?" Markos asked. "You're staying in your own body?"

"I made a deal with one of the oldest and certainly the strongest being on this Earth," she reminded him. "He's watching my back, officially. I've got my own protection."

Markos paused for a while, drinking. "Well, I'll trust you with your own life, anyway," he decided. "Should we find this Tristan tonight at seven? You'll need to lock the passenger spell."

Katherine just nodded, but didn't reply. She'd have Elijah over at about ten or eleven, at the earliest, so she'd have a lot of time to help Markos. Maybe she'd explain things to Elijah tonight. Probably not, but maybe.

"Do you ever think about death?" She asked, lost in thought. "I'm going to have to die eventually, probably you too. And when we do, we're right back in hell, and all of this was for nothing. Either way, we spend eternity burning." She took a deep breath, blinking. "That's why I'm with Elijah. This needs to be worth something."

Markos agreed, tapping his leg. "As long as you have my back, I'll have yours."

Katherine nodded, approvingly. "I think Nadia would be happy about this," she mused.

In the late evening of the day, Katherine walked into an empty café bar with Markos by her side. Apart from the bartender, the only person around was Tristan, enjoying a meal and messaging somebody on the phone.

Katherine walked over to the bartender to distract him as Markos approached Tristan. The second she slammed the bartender's head down on the counter, knocking him out, Markos grabbed the sides of Tristan's head and began chanting.

The leader of the Strix blinked, his eyes turning completely black before he passed out. Markos ran outside to the car they bought and sat down before Tristan woke up. "Katerina," he identified. "What th-"

"Veet," Katherine said, bored. His eyes went black again. When they opened, Tristan smirked. "So?" Katherine asked. "Did it work?"

Markos nodded with Tristan's head. "It worked," he announced.

"Good," Katherine said. "You know, Markos… we just might get away with this."

* * *

 **So I really wanted to include another character that came from hell, and for a while, and at first I thought Kai, but then the plotlines I had planned made more sense with Markos. And that headcannon about Markos being Nadia's father, was inspired by _these dreams go on_. Amazing KC  & KE writer.**

 **Hours to write, seconds to review... -Izzy x**


	7. Chapter 6

**AN: Glad you guys are enjoying it!** **-Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Six – The Originals 3x07**

"So, where's Klaus?" Hayley asked as the group stood around a table of candles.

"When I told him about Rebekah, he said he'd pursue another lead," Freya claimed, leaning on the table as Elijah split his hand open, bleeding over a bowl. "And he's picking up his hybrids on the way."

"You can all thank me for the little extra," Katherine mused, smirking. Elijah shot her a look and she shut up, crossing her arms and leaning against the table behind her.

"Forgive me, Niklaus," Elijah muttered as he passed the bowl to Freya. "You find her," he ordered.

Marcel leaned forward, pointing at Freya. "You sure you got enough juju for a worldwide locator spell?" He asked, uncertain.

Freya looked at him, as if to say 'bitch please'. "She's my sister," she said, instead. "I won't lose her." Freya held on to either side of the bowl and began chanting, moving a candle out of her way as she performed the spell. She picked the bowl up and spilt the blood across the map, leaving a huge puddle in the centre. The puddle spread far and thing, but no location appeared. "Damn it!"

Hayley and Katherine exchanged a regretful look. "So much for witch GPS," Hayley mused.

Freya's eyes darted back and forth. "When they said they cloaked her, I… I didn't expect a spell this strong."

"No doubt conjured by the very witch that lured Rebekah into this trap," Elijah added.

Freya paused before sitting down. "You should all go," she told them. "I, no doubt, have my work cut out for me."

Marcel stepped forward, looking almost desperate about something. "The Strix trust me," he reminded the group. "If they know where Rebekah is, I can find her."

Elijah shook his head, stepping forward. "No, you need to stop Davina from activating Lucien's weapon."

"And Tristan," Hayley added.

"Tristan's not a problem anymore," Katherine insisted.

"How can you be so sure?"

Marcel ignored the two of them. "We need to find Rebekah," he insisted.

"Marcel," Elijah said, his voice ringing with authority, "I will not rest until my sister is found."

There was a pause before Marcel leaned backwards, studying Elijah, and instantly trusting him. He would do anything for Rebekah. "Alright, fine," he said with a slight nod. "I'll handle Davina." He turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

"Well, in the meantime," Hayley said, "please tell me that we're going to kill someone."

"Oh, we will kill many someones," Elijah agreed. "But first, if we are to start a war, let us determine where are allegiances lie." He turned to and left, clearly with a scheme in mind. After a second, Hayley followed, and Katherine turned to Freya.

"Before I was a vampire," she mused, sitting down on the other side of the table, "I was a special kind of witch. You can channel some of my power."

Freya blinked at the generosity and took Katherine's hands, beginning the spell again.

* * *

After possessing the body of Tristan de Martel, Markos had spent a night studying him. He found a video of him that Katherine had once filmed at some party, and took one sentence the man had said. He repeated it over and over and over until he wore the man's voice ever so easily. He found a piece of paper the man had signed once, and forged his signature multiple times over, until it was indistinguishable. He practised walking like him, he studied the man's relationship and way of power. Then, finally, he began his first task as Tristan.

"What exactly am I walking into right now?" He asked, the phone pressed to his ear as he got off the private plane and walked, escorted into a warehouse. There was a casket in the centre, gleaming under some unknown light.

"Tristan thinks it's Rebekah Mikaelson's body," Katherine told him from the other end of the line. "He _wants_ Rebekah. But Aurora, his sister, hid Rebekah's body. When you open the coffin, you have to look surprised and angered. But not to much. Tristan doesn't show too much emotion."

"I have studied this man through and through," Markos insisted. "This isn't my first time."

He hung up the phone and walked over to the casket, opening it up and peering inside. There were two pieces of paper instead of a body, and he picked one up to look at it, feigning an expression of confusion.

"I suppose I should apologise," came a voice behind him. He turned to the redhead, Aurora. His sister. It was officially, as the kids said: go time. "I know you wanted Rebekah, but I had some other plans."

"Aurora," Markos said, stepping forward and remembering Tristan's power complex and authority. "What have you done with Miss Mikaelson?"

Aurora scowled. "Oh, dear brother, after all this time, why not simply choose to trust me?"

He looked over her. "You arrived in the city days ago. You've had time to poison Lucien's witch and rekindle with your ex, but you haven't had time to see me. You don't want to work with me, you want to work against me."

"Well next time," she suggested, "don't leave me a prisoner in some stuffy monastery."

Okay, well he didn't know that.

"Message received," he said, safely. "Can I have Rebekah, now, please?"

"Is she a part of the plan?" Aurora asked, angrily. "The one that you and Lucien were keeping from me?!"

"Rebekah would have been perfectly safe with us," Markos said, realising he really didn't know what was going on at all, except for the fact that killing Rebekah meant killing Aurora. "I would never put you in danger, sister."

"Yes, well," Aurora snarled, "I prefer to be in control of my own fate."

Markos didn't know what that meant, so he simply held up the pieces of paper that were left in the coffin. "Can I ask what these are?" He requested, without having read them or anything.

"Call them insurance," Aurora said, her mood lightening. "Perhaps you'll trust me now. You'll need to, if you're to join me for dinner at the Mikaelsons. Have you received your invitation to the Thanksgiving summit?"

Mikaelsons. Those original vampires Katherine worked with. They were fighting against Lucien and Tristan, so inviting them to Thanksgiving? "It's clearly a trap," Markos summarised.

Aurora smirked. "Open the envelope. Put your mind at ease." She reached up to touch her brothers face and Markos narrowed his new eyes. "You're my family, Tristan," the girl said. "You've always taken care of me. Allow me to return the favour."

She practically skipped away and he immediately pulled out his phone, calling Katherine.

"What is this about a Mikaelson Thanksgiving summit?!" He demanded.

-0-0-0-0-0-

After a tip from Katherine, Markos bought a bouquet of flowers for the Thanksgiving summit and arrived at the compound a little early to find Lucien serving himself a drink. He had changed into a finer blue suit and went over some relationship boundaries with Katherine before showing up.

"Aw, flowers for me," Lucien noticed, turning around as he ate something. "You shouldn't have."

"They're for the lady of the house," Markos corrected. "I'm well-mannered enough to bring a gift when I'm invited to dinner. I assume you bought…" he trailed off, looking around the compound to see no obvious gift from Lucien, "nothing?"

Lucien smirked. "Nothing but my deepest respect for you," he nodded, downing his drink.

"Lovely," came a new voice. Klaus Mikaelson strode into the compound, observing the pair. "We're all getting along."

"Like a fuse and a match," Lucien agreed, sarcastically.

"I take it Aurora is on her way?" Klaus said, ignoring the snide comment.

On cue, the girl appeared behind him, strolling in like she owned the place. "Sorry I'm late," she excused, admiring some of the decorations. "Just freshening up. I did want to look pretty."

The more people arrived, the more anxious Markos began to be. He'd impersonated many men before in his time, but never to a crowd this angry and powerful. _Enough_ , he told himself. He's already fooled the Strix for weeks, as well as Tristan's own sister.

Aurora stepped up to Lucien, looking stunned. "Well, well," she greeted. "If it isn't my old friend."

"Hello, Aurora," Lucien greeted, buttoning up his jacket. "It's been ages. You look…"

"You look," Klaus interrupted, taking Aurora's hand and kissing it, "ravishing." He ignored the dirty looks from Lucien, and Markos tried to mimic those looks. People were flirting with his sister. He was supposed to look enraged.

"Welcome to our home," Elijah greeted, walking down a flight of stairs. Everyone turned to face him as he joined them. "It's a shame it's under such unfortunate circumstances. We all share a common threat. A prophecy. Warning that my siblings and I will all fall within a year. I fear my sister already has."

"It was a precautionary measure," Markos chimed in. "I assure you."

"Interesting," Elijah mused about his perspective. "I would have labelled it as an entirely unnecessary measure." He joined the group at the bottom of the stairs and stood by Klaus. "But an alliance must be made, and since that is impossible without honesty, let us begin the evening by acknowledging your alliance."

Lucien looked worried, but Markos did not react. "No, gentlemen," Lucien said. "Before-"

Elijah shushed him, condescendingly. "Quiet, Lucien, please. Let's not ruin the dinner before it begins."

"Let's bear in mind," Klaus added, "that we expect an honest and productive negotiation this evening."

Elijah stared straight at Tristan, making Markos shift nervously. "Shall we begin?" He asked.

* * *

After Katherine had done all she could to help Freya, and was dismissed from the spell, she decided to join in with some of the city-wise festivities. She didn't celebrate the holiday, but she was always a sucker for a good party, so she'd pulled on her high boots and tightest tank top and ran into the streets, grabbing the first cup of alcohol she could find and dancing to the music.

She didn't even notice Marcel until he tapped her on the shoulder and caught her when she swayed.

"Hey!" She greeted, yelling a little too loud.

He looked over her judgingly. "You're drunk," he determined as she grinned. "How many drinks have you had?"

She paused, looking down into her almost-empty cup. "Almost one," she answered, before laughing. Marcel raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "Klaus has taken like, so much of my like, blood? So like, now I'm like, got a really low, like, tolerance."

"Really?" Marcel nodded, feigning interest as he mocked her. "A really, like, low tolerance?"

She whacked him on the arm, playfully. "The music's pretty good when you're drunk, though," she defended, throwing a dirty look to the band.

Marcel rolled his eyes and put an arm around her shoulders. "Come with me," he coaxed. "Let's make sure you're safe, alright?" He lead her into Rousseau's and sat her down at a table, ignoring her giggles. "Some coffee for this one?" He requested, calling behind the bar.

"Hey!" She snarled. "Coffee doesn't have any alcohol in it. Silly!" She turned to the bar and called: "Can I have your biggest alcohol-"

"Coffee," Marcel insisted, interrupting her. He went to go and sit with that Vincent guy as some stupid waiter bought her some stupid coffee.

She wondered vaguely how Markos was doing, pretending to be Tristan for Thanksgiving. He'd done it a thousand times before, so working like a con artist was in his nature. He changed his body every twenty years or so, and he's had days to pick up the art of Tristan by now. Besides, he's already fooled half the Strix, and Lucien.

Marcel returned a few minutes later to her table and pulled her to her feet. "Come on," he said, ignoring her groans. "We have to go and see Freya. Come on!"

The roads were closed, to they had to walk to the Compound. In fairness, it wasn't too far away, but Katherine drunkenly complained the entire way about not being able to join the party. Marcel dragged her straight upstairs to Freya's work room, where the witch was anxiously pacing around a desk full of grimiores.

"Anything?" Marcel asked, his eyes scanning over the open grimoires, maps and pools of blood.

Freya shook her head. "I can't find the continent she's on," she said, sadly. "Let alone which city. Even Katherine's power didn't do much." She turned to Katherine who fell into a chair. "Are you okay? You look beat."

"Yeah," Katherine said, with a sigh.

Marcel answered for her. "She's a little drunk," he explained before changing the conversation back to Rebekah. "Maybe you just need something of hers," he suggested. "A hairbrush, or-"

"Her blood is in my veins," Freya reminded him. "That should be enough."

Marcel looked taken aback by the snap, and held a hand out to stop Freya as she tried to leave. "Hey. You can't just give up," he insisted.

"I'm not giving up," Freya said, her eyes a little wild.

Marcel turned to Katherine. "You're a witch," he remembered. "Go with her and help. I gotta take care of Davina."

Katherine got to her feet, nodding as she followed Freya through the compound. "Hey," Katherine exclaimed, catching up with her. "What's the plan now?"

Freya didn't answer as she lead Katherine down to the courtyard, where her brothers and their first sired were enjoying a Thanksgiving meal. Tristan winked at Katherine, who scowled. She'd have to talk to Markos about not doing that later.

"Dining with our enemies now, are we?" Freya asked, leaning on the table and glaring at the lot of them. She turned to Aurora. "Convenient, given she's the one who has the answers I want."

Lucien leaned back, clearly interested in the exchange between the two women. Aurora, however, was outraged. "For heaven's sake!" She exclaimed, getting to her feet and throwing her napkin on the table. "Now I have to deal with the long-lost sister?" She looked past her to Klaus. "Nik, please spare me your families rage and paranoia. It is this lunacy that lead me to steal Rebekah in the first place."

"What did you do with her?" Freya snarled.

"Oh, I'm sorry love," Aurora said, patronisingly, "but this prophecy has you all acting like fools. And I have no intention of risking _my_ life to foolishness." She turned to the whole group. "Now, I can't trust Rebekah with any of you, and I can't trust the silly dear to endure on her own, so I decided to put her some place safe. Imagine a spot where no harm can come to her. Where in fact, no one could even track her down. Yes, rest assured that Rebekah is _perfectly_ fine. At the bottom of the ocean."

Even Katherine was taken aback.

There was a pause as everyone took in what she said.

"You're bluffing," Klaus insisted. "Tell me you're bluffing."

Aurora looked outraged. "You should all be thanking me. Rebekah's never been safer. She has plenty of company down there; there's all these little crabs and-"

She was interrupted by Klaus slamming his fist down on the table. He got to his feet and Markos mimicked his actions, as Tristan would do in the situation. He ran to Freya and held a carving knife to her throat. "Harm my sister, and I will return the favour."

Elijah took care of Tristan, carelessly slamming him against a nearby wall and keeping him there.

"Well this all escalated very quickly," Lucien said, beaming as he took a sip.

"Shut up, Lucien!" Klaus demanded, pointing. "Or I'll tear your tongue from your head."

Lucien raised an eyebrow. "Be careful with your threats, Nik. Anything should happen to me, and I won't be able to protect your precious Cami."

"Okay," Aurora interrupted. "That is the second time I've heard her name. Just who is this Cami?"

"You have bigger problems," Freya exclaimed, raising her hand to perform the easy spell that snapped Aurora's neck.

"Freya!" Klaus scolded.

"Niklaus," Elijah said, dragging Tristan over and sitting him in a chair at the side of the table. "Which one of these vile creatures do you wish to torture first?"

"I wanna leave!" Katherine announced, awkwardly.

"No," Klaus growled. "You stay. Elijah, why don't you have a word with the stable boy. Tristan and I are overdue a good catch up."

"I'm not Tristan!" Markos exclaimed.

Everyone fell silent, and Katherine's head fell in her hand at the stupidity. All that trouble of getting him into Tristan's body for him to blow his freaking cover as soon as Klaus mentions a talk.

Lucien blinked. "Well that was an unexpected turn of events."

"What the hell do you mean?" Klaus demanded.

Markos turned to Katherine. "You're the one who made a deal with them," he reminded her. "Do you want to explain, or should I?"

All eyes turned to Katherine and she bit her lip. They all looked expectant, like this was the moment they realised Katherine was lying to them all. But it wasn't. Technically.

She took a deep breath and sat down at the table, where Elijah had previously been sitting. "I told you Tristan wasn't a problem anymore," she reminded them. "This is what I meant. Before I was a vampire, I was a traveller witch. Travellers can jump from body to body – kind of. My ally, Markos," she gave a pointed look to him, "is running from a powerful enemy. I thought putting him in Tristan would be killing two birds with one stone."

Klaus blinked. "But he just threatened to kill Freya to protect Aurora," he reminded them. "Why would he do that if he wasn't Tristan?"

"He's a con artist," Katherine explained. "He's five hundred years older than the two of you. He knows how to play the part."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Klaus dragged Tristan – or Markos – into another room and sat him down on a chair, facing him and with an eerie smile. "When Aurora awakes, you will convince her to return my sister," he told him, matter-of-factly.

"Klaus, you know it's not that easy," Katherine said, following in after them. Elijah was busy with Lucien and Freya and found Hayley to help with Aurora. Katherine figured she should be issuing damage control with Markos, since he was her responsibility.

"Oh, but it is," Klaus said, turning to Katherine. "You see, Katerina, I think your plan was a good one. Two birds, one stone, la-di-da. And it certainly solves one of my problems. So, I've decided to help deceive the world into believing your ally is Tristan de Martel. But…" He turned back to Markos. "You must use that sibling loyalty to get me something in return."

"How?" Markos demanded, angrily. "I don't know her."

Klaus smirked, sadistically. "See, she doesn't know that. She will tell me everything when she's forced to watch me tear you limb from limb."

"What?!" Markos exclaimed.

"You could inherit another body, Markos, when it's done," Katherine reminded him. "But first," she stepped forward to face him herself, "you need to tell us anything you've found out from Aurora since you became Tristan."

Markos paused before nodding. "Okay. Okay, there is something. But I need you to guarantee your aid."

Klaus nodded, assuredly. "I guarantee it."

Markos looked between him and Katherine before speaking. "Instead of Rebekah's body, I found two envelopes. One containing longitude, and one containing latitude. For your sister. I took one envelope and she took the other. Aurora got somebody to throw her into sea, and then killed them, so she doesn't know where she is. You need to keep us both alive to find out. I can tell you the latitude now."

He pulled the envelope out of his jacket pocket and handed it to him. "I haven't peaked," he said, shrugging. "So, then there's the topic of your aid."

Klaus nodded, taking the envelope, checking it, and handing it to Katherine. Then he leaned down on Markos's chair and compelled him. "You are Tristan de Martel," he said. "You don't know who Markos is. All of Tristan's fears, loves, hobbies and memories are yours."

He straightened up and took the envelope, tucking it into the new Tristan's pocket. "Cruel," Katherine commented. "That's what Elijah did to the three of them, right?"

Klaus nodded. "I learned everything from my big brother."

* * *

The next few hours were very eventful, in fact. Elijah had compelled Lucien into forgetting Markos's confession, and believing his façade of Tristan. Klaus proceeded to bite him, forcing Aurora to go and get her piece of paper with the longitude on it.

Elijah waited with Katherine to guard Tristan, as Lucien escorted Klaus to his apartment to collect Camille and the medallion, but Camille was found completely missing, the vampire he hired to babysit telling them of her escape.

Klaus killed him easily and started trying to track Aurora, knowing it was her who took the blonde bartender. But at least Lucien gave Klaus the medallion.

But Elijah was preoccupied with the dining table. He remembered the one he'd seen in the visions Alexis showed him. It was in disarray over Aurora's temper tantrum, just like the prophecy suggested.

It was already started to come true.

* * *

Katherine trudged back to her condo, her feet aching in her heels. She opened the front door in the living room, purely because it was closer and kicked her heels off, preparing to throw herself down into an armchair, but she jumped back when she realised who was sat down in her home already.

"Katerina," he greeted, his fingers intertwined. "I have been looking for you everywhere."

"Cade," she whispered. She overcame her shock and pointed at the devil, angrily. "You're not physically strong enough to beat an Original, and one's on his way over right-"

"I'm aware," Cade interrupted, getting to his feet. "I had the pleasure of meeting the elder Mr Mikaelson at the masquerade party hosted by his own organisation. I called myself Arc to hide suspicion. But he was preoccupied with thoughts of you. He really mistrusted you, you know. Tut, tut. But nonetheless, I'd rather not wage a war on the Mikaelsons. They can't die, and so I can't win."

Katherine blinked. "So… you're not going to kill me?" She checked.

"Not yet," Cade promised. "But soon, you will leave this city of your own accord, and then, I will find you. And I will kill you. And I will take you back to damnation, where you're meant to be."

As soon as Cade left her, Katherine walked through to her bedroom. Through the adjoining bathroom was a door leading into a laundry room. Katherine had planned to turn it into a walk-in-wardrobe, but for now, it was where she kept Markos's body, in a casket borrowed from the Mikaelsons.

She opened it up and spoke. "Veet."

Markos woke up, his eyes turning black, and back to normal in a single blink. They'd preserved his body with a spell, so he could switch between them on her command.

"Katerina, what's going on?" Markos demanded, getting to his feet. "I can't remember anything after talking to Klaus."

"He compelled you into thinking you're really Tristan," she explained. "It will only be affective in his body, since he compelled that body. And Cade won't be able to tell that it's you, because your mind will be Tristan's. Listen, because we don't have much time."

"For what?" He asked.

"The plan's changed slightly."

* * *

 **AN: Next chapter is very Klaroline-centric, and the way in which Caroline enters the story is revealed. I think you guys will really like it! And the chapter after that, she arrives in New Orleans officially!**

 **Quick question: Who do you guys ship with Kol and Rebekah? I'm thinking about introducing two new ships for them in later chapters but I don't know how popularly they'll go down.**

 **Please review! -Izzy x**


	8. Chapter 7

**AN: ARE Y'ALL READY FOR SOME JEALOUS CAMI? This chapter explains exactly how Caroline will fit into this story. Enjoy!**

 **And FYI: I've decided not to add any Kol or Rebekah ships. There's too much confliction between Kennett and Kolvina, for one thing, but I also think it will be best not to add any more characters to overshadow the ones we already have. Kolvina will still be included in later chapter bc that's what happens in The Originals anyway, but I'm not planning on changing anything like her death. -Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven – The Originals 3x08**

Elijah found Katerina leaning against the doorframe of the room where they were keeping the new Tristan, tied up and bitten, softly moaning in pain. She looked sad, watching him there. An emotion he hadn't seen on her for so long.

Elijah came up behind her and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" He asked, gently.

She shrugged his hand off and scoffed. "I'm fine. Don't be a bitch."

"Yeah, I thought so." He smirked and moved around to stand next to her, looking at Markos, the man she protected. "Why didn't you tell me about your solution to our Tristan problem?" He asked, his eyes flicking back to her. It was a clever plan, and very useful in their situation, so he couldn't think of any possible reason for her to conceal it from him.

"I wanted you to trust me," she admitted, refusing to meet his eye. But he wouldn't stop gazing.

"I did," he assured her. Still, she didn't turn to him, so he continued. "It was a new feeling, trusting you. I enjoyed it. And you came through in the end, so thank you."

"This isn't the end, Elijah," she corrected.

There was a particularly long pause as her eyes saddened increasingly as she watched Tristan. She rarely cared this much about anybody. He must have been something very special to her. But apart from boyfriend, Elijah couldn't guess what, until she explained, breaking the silence with her sad story.

"I met Markos when I was a human," she told him softly, "in Bulgaria. The first time. By then he was already a thousand years old and in a body not of his own. But he took me dancing and I thought it was love. Markos… he's the father of the child I was banished for."

Elijah felt his face fall at the realisation.

Oh.

The only pair he could relate it to was Hayley and Klaus. They hated each other's guts for the majority of the time, but they would kill to protect each other. He had believed it was to raise Hope with both parents, but maybe it was different. Maybe it was because they owed Hope the safety of her parent. Maybe it was because they owed each other.

Katerina's breathing began to get shaky and uneven and her eyes began to glisten.

"Katerina," he started, but she interrupted.

"I met her," she said, her voice choking on the words and her eyes welling up at the memory. "My daughter. She turned herself into a vampire to find me and she did. For months, I got to… to share her secrets," she spat, her voice breaking, "and watch her cry. I got to be her mother for a few short months."

Elijah didn't try and comfort or console her, knowing that would be unwelcome. "What happened?" He asked instead.

Katherine shrugged, forcing down any emotion that had been building up. "They killed her to save Elena," she snapped, angrily. "And I allowed them to kill me so I could say goodbye. I landed myself in Hell for my sins."

Elijah paused, blinking. "Hell is real," he summarised, nodding. "That makes sense."

"Yeah, well if people can find peace, then people can find eternal damnation," she mused. "But I found Markos. He was there too. And I told him all about Nadia Petrova, the daughter we both lost." There was another pause as she kicked a speck of dust. "Him and I… we escaped Hell together. It's a long story how, but we did. And we ran together."

"From whom?" Elijah asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Katherine just shrugged. "I don't know," she answered. "I haven't heard from any of Hell's bitches since." She turned to Elijah for the first time since he approached her and sighed. "This… solution?" She gestured towards Tristan. "This can't be permanent. I owe him more than that. When this prophecy passes, Klaus will have to lift the compulsion, and I'll put Markos somewhere else. Okay?"

He blinked. "I didn't think you owed anybody anything," he said. "I thought you looked out for yourself, and yourself alone."

She cocked her head at him, rolling her eyes. "Elijah, since we broke up, I met and lost my daughter and spent a year in hell. Things are… changing. Not everything. The big picture remains the same. But these little things inside of me, aren't what you remember. Aren't what I remember."

Elijah nodded to himself, realising. Katherine Pierce has never been in New Orleans with him. It's been Katerina Petrova all along.

* * *

Aurora pulled the car up in the back alley behind the church and climbed out, stretching her legs. She'd gotten a lot done in the last couple hours, including getting changed into regular clothes instead of that fancy Thanksgiving thing.

She strutted around to the of the car and opened up the trunk, taking a look at Camille, still in her purple dress, still unconscious, and still bleeding from the neck. "Aw, poor dear," Aurora mused, smirking. "Still sleeping. Well, you have a big day ahead of you, so we should get started."

She leaned down to pick the blonde up, but felt something strong and metal hit her over the head. Camille, who had been faking unconsciousness, got to her feet and started running, making Aurora roll her eyes and flash in front of her.

"That was not nice," Aurora scolded, snarling. "Okay, you and I need to have a little heart-to-heart conversation." She grabbed the blonde's arm and started dragging her to the church backdoor. "Come along."

Inside was the vampire wrestling ring that Marcel had set up, and the punching bags littered around the room. There were big human boys around the room, practising their moves and flexing their muscles, which made Aurora smile.

"What are we doing here?" Camille asked, nervous.

"I heard a little rumour that these men train here, hoping to be turned into vampires," Aurora mused, looking around. "So I'm going to grant them their wish."

"Wait, please," Camille said, sounding desperate. "I don't know who you are. And if you have a problem with me, then fine. But let them go."

"Huh." Aurora's face fell, disappointed. Had nobody told the poor darling yet? Did that mean that Camille was out of the loop, or Aurora wasn't important? "I assumed you knew who I was. No matter. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Aurora de Martel." She did a little curtsey for Camille. "Long lost love of Niklaus Mikaelson. He and I are having a little spat at the moment, as he took my brother captive. Now it's come to my attention that you are quite precious to him. So, I'm taking _you_. And these lovely little specimens are to provide incentive. Once they're in transition, they'll need to feed. And since you will be the only human blood available… well… Nik had better give me what I want."

"Are you kidding me?" Camille exclaimed, looking hurt.

Aurora just ignored her, pushing her to the floor and turning to the men in the ring. "Gentlemen!" She called. "Come down. Quick, quick. Off you pop." They paused, studying her before obliging, jumping down to talk. "Thank you! Hallo." She turned to two men on the machines and gestured them over as well. "You too, come on." When they all gathered around, she smiled. "Congratulations. You have all been chosen to claim the highest honour bestowed upon your pitiful species."

"Don't do this," Camille pleased from the floor. "Klaus doesn't even like me!"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "You're lying," she claimed. "I heard them talk about you."

"Did you hear Katherine Piece?" Camille asked, sitting up and scowling unhappily.

Aurora blinked, deciding to listen. "I met her briefly," she said, remembering the little spat at the Thanksgiving dinner, where her and Freya came downstairs to be mean to her. "We had better things to discuss than you."

Camille pouted. "Well, you should listen to what she has to say before coming to any rash decision," she suggested, looking like she was about to get emotional. "Because according to her, I'm nothing but a rebound."

Aurora scowled. "You're lying, to save these men."

"Why would I speak so low of myself?" Camille snapped, angrily. Yeah, she was definitely getting emotional. "Apparently, I remind Klaus of a perky blonde in Mystic Falls. That's all I know about her. That's who you should be playing with."

Aurora paused, thinking to herself. Klaus did have a history in Mystic Falls, and if there was someone special there… well it would explain his relationship with this bore. "Interesting," Aurora admitted. "Well. It looks like I'm going to have to investigate both options. Let's do this one first."

Aurora bit open her wrist and ran around the men, feeding them all her blood before snapping their necks and watching them fall. When she did, she took a breath, beginning to pace around the room, amongst a large pile of dead bodies. Camille had gotten to her feet, and looked sad about all the death, which made Aurora want to laugh.

"It's rather odd, you being Nik's therapist," she said instead, walking to a specific point and tapping it with her foot. "Didn't he kill your uncle right around… here?"

Camille paused before nodding. "Yeah. It was a mercy killing."

Aurora laughed. "Mercy? That is such an odd little word. Tell me… was it difficult to watch?"

Camille took a deep breath before answering. "Yes."

"Hm." Aurora nodded, not quite satisfied. "This church hasn't been much luck to your family, has it?"

There was a slight pause as Camille realised what the vampire meant. "You know about my brother?"

Aurora nodded, gleefully. "I confess, when I first heard your name, I was intrigued. Nik cares for so little people. So, I looked you up. The internet is such a marvel. I learned all about your past. The insane twin brother kills nine students and then does himself in? _Wow_."

"Why are you doing this?" Camille asked, crossing her arms. "I told you. I'm not the one you're looking for."

Aurora smirked. "No, Klaus really cares about someone in _Virginia_ , apparently, but that's a long drive, and these new vampires are here, and I already sent a message to Klaus… This perky blonde will just have to wait."

Camille rolled her eyes. "Do you get off on being cruel to me?"

Aurora narrowed her eyes, moving to sit down. "Perhaps I'm looking for the ways in which we are alike. You see, Nik's been obsessed with me for centuries. And now, he's infatuated with you. What do you think the overlap is between us? Is it… crazy brothers? Yours was quite mad. And mine? Tristan… I love him but he can be a bit daft sometimes. You know he likes to have me committed every so often? Hoping to cure my dispositions. Thanks to him, I've been plunged into ice bars, bled for melancholier, and exorcised for demons five – no, _six_. Six times. You know, my latest diagnosis is bipolar disorder. I imagine, with your credentials, you're familiar with it."

The blonde's eyes softened. "There have been great strides to-"

" _Shut up, Camille_ ," Aurora snapped. "I prefer not to be condescended by someone who only _just_ got her degree. Now, tell me a little more about you, starting with how you feel about Nik. And do bear in mind, that I appreciate honesty."

* * *

Werewolf venom was always a reliable form of torture to any vampire, so Katherine chose to step outside while Hayley bit and bit Tristan, trying to force him to talk to Elijah, which he didn't do, obviously. But they didn't really need him too.

"I have a question," Hayley mused, joining Katherine at the newly rebuilt bar downstairs. "What are you and Elijah hiding about Tristan? I didn't taste any vervain in his system, yet Elijah doesn't want to compel him. Why?"

Katherine paused, before smirking. "Insightful," she commented. "Tristan thinks he's on vervain, but he's not, you're right. Klaus already got answers from him, and compelled him to forget about it. He doesn't know that we know, which gives us an advantage. But torturing him fools both him, and his sister, and gets Aurora to talk."

Hayley looked impressed as she poured herself a drink. "Your plan, I'm assuming?"

Katherine just shrugged, proudly. "Yeah, I'm clever that way," she claimed.

Hayley's phone rang, and she excused herself to take a call from Freya. Katherine went back upstairs to get an update of the Tristan situation, but cringed slightly at the bloody mess. It was Tristan's body, sure. And the mind was all Tristan, thanks to Klaus's compulsion. There was nothing left of Markos in there. But she still felt guilty for letting it happen.

Elijah noticed her discomfort and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead. "It needs to be done," he assured her, regretfully.

Hayley returned just as Elijah's lips left Katherine's skin, and her face fell in shock. Now Elijah looked guilty, and Katherine didn't have an opinion on the situation. "Sorry for interrupting," the wolf said, awkwardly. "I didn't know you two fixed your shit." Neither of them replied, and Hayley quickly excused herself.

Katherine paused before following her, hoping their newfound alliances wasn't screwed up because of it. But she found Hayley leaning against a railing outside, and trying to stop her eyes from leaking.

Katherine's own eyes widened as she walked over to her. "Hayley, are you-"

"Crying about Elijah?" Hayley finished. "No, I promise. You two are fine. I was just… You guys fixed your shit, but I got into some of my own."

Katherine paused, moving to stand next to her, awkwardly. "You're husband. Jackson or something? Is everything okay?"

Hayley shook her head, her eyes turning slightly red. "No, he… he left. And I'm not sure if he's coming back." She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to control herself. "I've been spending too much time with the Mikaelsons, and neglecting him. Jackson's become a full-time babysitter, and he doesn't understand that everything I'm doing, I'm doing for her. When she's older, I can't tell her I did nothing while all of this-"

"Hayley," Katherine interrupted, before the wolf got too worked up. "Kids don't understand vampire politics. All they understand is who's there, and who's not. And it does seem like you're always trying to find a babysitter."

"But when she's older-"

"She still won't understand," Katherine interrupted. "Trust me, I know. Look, go and find Jackson. Elijah and I got it from here. Take Hope, and just… take a little staycation. You need it."

Hayley paused before nodding and rubbing Katherine's arm. "Thank you," she whispered, before flashing away to find her family.

Almost seconds after Hayley disappeared, Marcel ran up to them, looking grim. Elijah came out to greet him, looking suspicious. "I'm here on the behalf of the Strix," Marcel announced to the pair. "And I'm not leaving without Tristan."

Elijah smirked. "Well, it seems you won't be leaving for a while," he claimed. "Do make yourself at home. There is a guest bedroom, should you refuse to relent."

Marcel rolled his eyes. "Elijah, look, the way I see it, you don't have a choice."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Any minute now, the Strix will come along to get their guy," Marcel informed him. "And destroy half the Quarter in the process."

"I can handle the Strix," Elijah insisted.

"Oh, you can't even handle Tristan," Marcel scoffed. "He's about to OD on wolf venom, and you can't get a thing out of him. The guy's been around for a millennium; he can handle your mind games. And if you end up killing him, we lose Rebekah for good.

"So, you suggest what, Marcel?" Elijah asked. "That I hand over this wretched fiend and stand idly by as you set him free?"

Marcel held up his hands, as if ready to share a fool-proof plan. "I take Tristan and make it look like I bust him out. I get praise from the Strix, and a bunch of trust. I find out where Rebekah is and keep them from declaring war on the Quarter. If you trust me-"

"I will not," Elijah said, interrupting him, "release that filth."

* * *

When Klaus arrived, he just managed to overhear the ending of Aurora's conversation with Camille, which proved Auroras knowledge of his whereabouts. "My respect for you is overshadowed by my harsh jealousy," Aurora was saying. "So I believe the inevitable has arrived. Wouldn't you say my love?"

Klaus paused before walking into the line of sight of both women, his hands behind his back as he studied the situation. "Aurora," he greeted. "Stop this game."

"This is not a game, Nik, this is an intervention," Aurora claimed, beginning to get even angrier than before. "You're in danger of losing the love of your life. _Me_. We're finally together after so long apart – the world before us! If we can just dodge a few minor obstacles. Like this nuisance of a prophecy. My brother's internment. The insufferable influence of Elijah. But what I can't overlook is your feelings for somebody else. Whether it be for this wench, or for some perky blonde in Mystic Falls!"

Klaus paused, his face falling. He had walked in there with a plan: convince Aurora he didn't care about Camille, to have her spared. But he had not been expecting this turn of events. "What do you know about Caroline?"

Aurora's face fell, sadly. " _Caroline_? Is that her name?"

"So it's true?" Camille whispered, sounding heartbroken. "I'm just a rebound?"

Okay, time called for a specific change in the plan. "I assure you, Caroline was simply a fling. A one-night stand against a particularly unstable tree, which is now but a stump. Before you, stands Camille. She's the one I truly care about; the one I struggle to find myself without. Aurora, please. If you value our relationship, let her go."

Aurora scoffed, gesturing to Camille. "Do you actually love _her_?"

Klaus shrugged, trying to look sheepish. "I know it's odd, and it shouldn't be, but I can't stop thinking about Camille. She brings out the best in me. Aurora, if you kill her, it would be nothing but darkness inside. Do not break me like this."

Aurora stepped behind Camille and held her nails to her throats, clearly testing Klaus's statement. "You're lying!" She exclaimed. "I can tell. Do you hear that, Camille? He's _trying_ to get me to kill you. Why? To protect _Caroline_?"

Klaus feigned a look of desperation. "Camille! Don't listen to her. Caroline means _nothing_ to me."

Aurora looked shocked. "You're genuine, aren't you?" She knocked Camille out and headed towards the door. "Klaus, step outside with me, a moment." He followed her and smirked, considering his plan to be successful.

* * *

"Elijah!" Marcel exclaimed, following Elijah around the compound refusing to relent. "You gotta help me out here. You know I'd never do anything to harm Rebekah-"

"Marcel, I said no," Elijah said, scolding. "And unless you plan on betraying me and bringing the Strix here, then I suggest you give it up."

There was a pause before Marcel smirked. "Nah, you see… I already betrayed you before I got here."

In an instant, the courtyard was swarming with members of the Strix, cornering Elijah. Fangs out, shoulder squared, and ready for a fight. Elijah raised an eyebrow and fixed her cuffs, beckoning them forward.

The next few minutes were filled with broken bones and blood shed, ripped out hearts and decapitated heads, strewn across the courtyard. He noticed the faint sound of Freya being stabbed upstairs by Aya, and made a mental note to heal her as soon as the threat was gone. He was seconds away from finishing them off when reinforcements came.

He discarded of the majority of them before he noticed the final three. Two of them approached him, and the third held Katerina still, holding her neck at an uncomfortable angle, one tiny movement away from snapping it.

Elijah's face fell as he considered his options. Surrender, or flash forward and try to save her, risking her life in the process.

During that second to think, he felt his heart being pierced by wood, and the burning sensation spread through his body. He stiffened dropping to the floor.

-0-0-0-0-0-

When Elijah woke up, Freya and Katherine was gathered in the living room and Katherine was serving drinks. He pulled the stake out of him and got to his feet, angrily grumbling. Freya was holding another stake that could have been used, but had been simply left with them.

"It's embedded with dark magic," she explained as Elijah took a drink from Katherine, downed it, and then handed the glass back to her to fill up. "So it can take even an original down."

"Well the Strix have no shortage of weapons," Elijah claimed.

"They don't have Marcel," Katherine said.

Elijah shot her an unhappy glare, so she could see the extent of his anger. "I'm not so sure about that," he said.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he attacked you, but he could have used that thing on you," she gestured to the stake in Freya's hands, "and he didn't. And after you died, he killed other members of the Strix to save me."

"And he healed me," Freya informed them, her hand falling to the wound on her stomach. "A few minutes more and I would have been dead."

"As far as Marcel knows, he's just taken our last chance of finding Rebekah," Elijah reminded them. "He wouldn't have done that, had he not been working against us."

Katherine blinked before replying. "Elijah… why are you so mad? We have the information we needed, and Tristan won't be working against us at all, anymore. So what is Marcel had another plan? He still has a plan."

Before Elijah could reply, Klaus joined them, grinning slightly. He took a drink from Katherine and winked, merrily. "Good news," he announced, sitting down next to Freya. "I have the longitude coordinates. I saw inside Aurora's mind. Katerina's memorised the latitude ones, so we now have everything we need to bring Rebekah home." He paused when he noticed the blood stain on Elijah's portrait, just like in Alexis's vision. "Oh. Well that's unnerving. But never mind. Lots of work to be done."

* * *

Hayley stopped in the street, bags and diapers falling out of the pram. The one she hadn't even folded out yet. "Crap," she whispered, trying to pick bags up and hold Hope – who started crying – all at once. She was taking her for a little visit to the bayou to see Jackson and convince him to come home, and apparently it was harder than it seemed.

"Here, let me help," came a comforting voice at her side.

Hayley checked the guy out quickly before handing Hope to him. "Try anything," she threatened, "and I'll tear your intestines out your ass and hang you with them."

The man just chuckled. "I don't doubt it. I'm Cade, by the way."

"That's a stupid name," Hayley grumbled. She looked across the road as she finished picking up her stuff and saw Katherine watching them. Cade raised Hope's arm to wave at her from across the street, and she took off, walking at a brisk pace.

Hayley paused before snatching Hope back and strapping her into the pram. "Thanks," she said, under her breath.

* * *

After the crowd dispersed, Freya found Klaus by the bar and sat next to him, refusing a drink when he offered. "Hey, Klaus," she mused, thinking deeply. "Something Tristan said today kind of stuck with me. Elijah's been confidently looking for your redemption for centuries. And Rebekah's, and Kol's. He started trying to trust me for no reason other than the blood in my veins. But he has completely given up on Finn. Why? Is it just because he tried to kill you or…"

Klaus paused, lowering his drink and turning to Freya. "Finn didn't just try to kill us," Klaus replied. "He succeeded."

"Kol?" Freya asked, remembering the curse that was placed on her youngest brother the year before.

Klaus shook his head. "No, before that. One thousand years ago, Finn killed our own. That's not something we could ever forgive him for." He got to his feet and sighed. "It's been a long day, Freya, and this isn't a story I like to tell. So, if you forgive me, I'll refrain from doing so until a later date."

He walked off to bed, and Freya chewed her lip, trying to figure out which Mikaelson Finn could have killed. Klaus killed Esther, and Henrik was killed by wolves, not Finn. The rest were alive for the next thousand years.

* * *

Katherine was speeding down the highway out of New Orleans when her phone started ringing. She paused, doubting herself before putting it on speaker and answering. "Hey, sweetie," she cooed. "What's up?"

"I'm at your condo," Elijah informed her, sounding worried. "Where are you?"

Katherine sighed. "I was just about to call you," she told him. "To say goodbye." There was a long pause as Elijah took in what Katherine said. She was running again. "I don't know what to tell you, Elijah. These last few weeks have been fun. But Klaus forgot that witches can't be mind-fucked when he compelled me to stay in town, so I'm leaving."

"Going back into hiding?" Elijah asked, sounding particularly cold.

"At least my life's not boring," she claimed.

"Why, Katerina?" He asked, the sadness just recognisable in his voice. "Why leave now?"

She took a deep breath, wondering how to break it to him without hurting him. "When I arrived in New Orleans, I was expecting you to be playing _Three Men and a Baby_. Not to be weighed down with a prophecy and the Strix. Things have gotten complicated for us both."

"I don't believe you," he whispered. "You opened up to me," he said, a little louder. "We talked. You listened. I _saw_ the change in you."

Katherine paused again, finding this just as hard as he did. "Nadia Petrova died in 1542, with eight children. She lived in poverty, and Markos and I were having sex after meeting in Hell. I lied to you, Elijah. I always do."

"I don't believe you. You wouldn't-"

"I don't love you anymore, Elijah!" She exclaimed, interrupting him and yelling through her teeth. They hadn't said the 'L' word since she arrived in New Orleans, but he knew it was true once before. "I used to. A long time ago. But those feelings didn't come back."

"You don't love me anymore?" He asked, accusingly. "Isn't that _convenient_ for you? So when my life puts you in danger for a second, after I've done everything to protect you, that's when you decide you don't love me anymore?"

Katherine sucked her teeth. To be fair, he knew her well, and she knew this wasn't going to be easy. "I'm in danger anyway, Elijah – this has nothing to do with that. I'm just safer on my own, and you're better off with my troubles on your plate as well."

Elijah didn't reply, and after a few minutes, Katherine relented and finished the conversation. "Goodbye, Elijah."

"Goodbye, Katherine." He hung up first and Katherine continued down the road.

She couldn't fit a casket in her Porsche, but she'd shoved Markos in a body bag in the trunk. The plan was complicated from there, incredibly so, but at least Elijah's family would be safe from here. Not of the prophecy, but maybe of Cade.

But she hadn't had the opportunity to tell Elijah how much she really would miss him.

* * *

"Hey Siri," Aurora called to her phone in the shotgun seat, as she pelted down the highway leaving New Orleans. "Give me a fast route to Mystic Falls."

" _Directing a route to Mystic Falls_ ," her phone replied, and started spouting directions.

"Time to meet that perky blonde Caroline," Aurora mused, smirking widely.

* * *

 **AN: There we go.**

 **Let me know what you think, and I'll love you forever!-Izzy x**


	9. Chapter 8

**AN: Is there really Klaroline vs Kalijah discourse in the reviews? Guys, we're all supposed to be in the same boat. I'm gonna settle some of this right now.**

 **I never said this was 100% Kalijah with a side of Klaroline. That doesn't mean I'm going to let Klaroline take over, and push Kalijah into the corner. From here on in, the story will be about 50/50. There will be some Kalijah-focused chapters, and some Klaroline-focused chapters. There will be some chapters without ship interaction, where the girls are off doing their own thing or whatever. So don't be surprised if I mix it up. I have some good plotlines planned for both of them.**

 **Steroline is still a problem, but I promise they will break up as soon as it makes sense. (When Stefan comes to New Orleans basically, like in canon.) They will barely be mentioned before then.**

 **When I said Caroline will show up in Chapter Eight, I wasn't including the prologue. Sorry, I should have made that clearer. But, in my defense, I do put the chapter number before every chapter (as seen below).**

 **Katherine ran away to protect Elijah's family from her own enemies because she loves him.**

 **-Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight – The Originals 3x09**

Rebekah stormed out of the public bathroom, angered by the unhygienic quality of the gas station, and threw her old clothes into a nearby bin. "I would prefer the bottom of the murky sea to that restroom" she informed Elijah as she stepped up to him. He was inspecting the strange, dark stake she had stuck in her chest for the last couple weeks as he leaned against the car, waiting for her to finish changing.

"Still hungry, are we?" Elijah deduced, condescending her attitude.

"I'm not hungry," she claimed. "I'm angry. Staked by your ex, drowned by Nik's. You two need a lesson in women." She scratched her forearm as Elijah smirked, finding something amusing in that. "What? What is it? What's funny?"

Elijah blinked, shrugging. "Funny you should mention our disappointing ex's. Katherine Pierce arrived in New Orleans a few weeks ago. She and I rekindled, and then she left. Our lives were too dangerous for her, and not quite worth it."

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Typical. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the bloody bitch is alive to begin with…" She trailed off, realising what she had said when she said it, and understood why Elijah seemed upset. "Elijah, I'm sorry. Nik told me not to tell you."

"Oh he did, did he?"

Rebekah looked pleading. "Elijah, you know what it's like with Nik tells you to do something! He's got those daggers, and that wolf venom, and Katherine Pierce was a manipulative whore to begin with. She wasn't worth it, Elijah."

"She was to me," he told her. "And I would have thought you, of all people, would have more respect for me, to not lie to me. I already wished her goodbye for the sake of my family, I don't know what more I could have given to you."

Rebekah sighed, reaching up to touch his arm. "She never could have made you happy," she insisted with a sigh. "Distancing yourself from her would make you happy."

"Isn't that for me to decide?" He asked, crossing his arms. "Happiness isn't determined by sanity or logic. Being with her felt right, and I'm tired of being denied the opportunities because of you and Niklaus. How is that fair on me?"

Rebekah sucked her teeth. "Look, I just got out from the bloody ocean, can we talk about this when we get home?"

Elijah sighed. "Perhaps it is you who should be taking a lesson, Sister. You damned one of the ex's who hurt you to eternity, and viciously antagonise the others. Every woman either of us bring into our lives. You stop us from making the mistakes, and are then surprised when we don't learn from them. I'm one thousand years old, Rebekah. I can make my own decisions."

She scoffed. "Go ahead. Chase after Katherine then. Hunt her down and demand she return to our city with you. Date her, whatever. But when she hurts you, again, don't say that I didn't warn you. Because I promise you, that bitch is better off dead."

There was a long silence in which neither of them spoke. Rebekah leaned against the car and tried to change the conversation, knowing that she's probably gone too far with Katherine. "Do those lunatics actually believe the prophecy?" She asked. Elijah gave her a knowing look and she raised an eyebrow. "You don't, do you?"

"You would be foolish to ignore it," he informed her.

"We can't be killed, Elijah," Rebekah prompted him.

"The prophecy said that one of us would fall by family," he claimed.

"Well I would never harm you," she promised, exclaiming, and gesturing. "You killed half the navy rescuing me. Freya hates traitors…" She trailed off at some itching pain in her forearm.

"Let us not forget our allegiance to Finn," he mused. "A part of me would like to trust him, but he has killed family before, and attempted murder on those of us he did not manage to successfully slaughter."

Rebekah sighed. "So that leaves Nik." There was a pause as they both doubted the safety of their brother's company. "Do you think he's learned his lesson about backstabbing his family?"

Elijah shrugged. "I believe he learns that lesson all the time." The car was finished filling with gas, and Elijah put the nozzle back. "He's just a terrible student."

Rebekah paused, her mind going blank for a minute. "Do you ever want to rip out his heart, and see how long it takes to grow back?" A second later, she couldn't believe she had said that. Of course she didn't want to kill her brother.

She cried out in pain and lifted the sleeve of her shirt to see the little red rash forming on her wrist. Elijah looked at her, concerned, and went over to inspect it. "What is it?"

"Great," Rebekah sighed. "You know what to get me for Christmas? The cure to a magical mark growing on my arm." She held it up so that Elijah could compare it to the marks on the stake, noticing their similarities.

* * *

Aurora did not like to be yanked around by her chain.

There were less than thirty 'Caroline's in Mystic Falls, and only about eight of them were a blond-ish colour. None of them seemed particularly perky, and nothing about them seemed to stand out enough for Klaus to be interested. However, after a quick google of 'Mystic Falls Caroline', she found the results for Miss Mystic Falls, a few years ago.

"Ah," Aurora nodded, smirking. "A beauty queen."

Caroline Forbes. She typed the name into Facebook, and found her current place of residence. Whitmore College, miles away. Aurora scowled at the distance, but got back in her car and sped down the highway.

It wasn't insanely far out of town, just a couple extra hours of the day wasted.

She bought a Barbie Doll for the 'Toys 4 Tots' charity event they were hosting and handed it to some pretty young woman in an elf hat with 'Bonnie' written on her name tag. "It's a toy," Aurora said, wiggling the box proudly. "For a tot."

"Thank you," Bonnie said, looking busy, and putting it in a huge bucket of toys.

Aurora smiled sweetly at her, before looking around the room for Caroline. And she found her, standing at a crate of toys with a phone in her hand.

"Last year we filled ten crates," she was saying in her high-pitched voice. "This year I'm aiming for twenty." She seemed perky, she was definitely blonde, and her name was Caroline. This must have been her. "To do what?" She asked into the phone. "Attend any more drama classes? I have to do Alice in Wonderland, and the whole costume is polyester. It's literally the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

The girl held a clipboard and directed other helpers around the room, clearly in charge of the place. In a second, her expression went from joking to stressed out about something.

"You're chasing after an immortal jerk who basically killed your mother," Caroline muttered into the phone. "That's much more important. I can handle this." She paused, staring at some guy's neck for a second doo long before exclaiming into her phone: "Yes! I'm here. How are you?"

Okay, so she definitely knew about the supernatural, and Aurora could sense vampirism on her. If you knew about vampires, you would have been able to identify the confidence, and the way she walked with simple elegance.

"And that's my cue," Caroline announced. "I'll call you later." She hung up her phone and sighed, slipping it into her pocket.

Bonnie walked over to her and took a toy from Caroline's hand, speaking a little too loudly. "Hey, Stefan," she mimicked. "Did I forget to mention that Bonnie caught me mixing a blood bag with mayonnaise at three o'clock in the morning?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Okay, that was marshmallow fluff," she corrected. "And I'm experimental?! What do you want me to say?"

Bonnie huffed. "Why don't you just tell him you miss him?"

"Because he doesn't need to know," Caroline exclaimed, bumping Bonnie with her hip. "Hey, I gotta go. James wants to run lines for a little bit. You think you can handle this?"

Bonnie blinked, gesturing around the room. "If you can handle all this, I can handle a fraction of it," she promised. "Go. Have fun."

Caroline grinned before grabbing her bag and taking off her elf hat, strutting out of the building. Aurora followed her, studying her from behind. She didn't seem to be armed, so the only thing she had on her side was baby vampire strength, and that was easily manageable.

Outside, Aurora approached her, grinning. "Hey," she greeted. "I'm Aurora. I just donated a toy for a tot."

Caroline blinked. "Okay?"

"You're Caroline Forbes, right?" Aurora said, appreciating the look of slight suspicion on the younger vampire's face. "Sorry, I was told to look for a perky blonde in Mystic Falls, and you're the best match."

"Who the hell are you?" Caroline asked, stopping her walk and turning to her completely, trying to square up.

"How rude of me," she smirked. "I'm Aurora de Martel. Long lost love of Niklaus Mikaelson. You were his girlfriend, right?"

Caroline cringed. "Ew! No!" She exclaimed, seemingly mad at the very idea. "He had a thing for me, but I was like: _Ew! No!_ And then he went to New Orleans. I was not his girlfriend!"

"Apparently, you had sex against a tree?"

Caroline paused, blinking. "Oh yeah," she muttered.

Aurora laughed. "Oh, Caroline. You're so silly." She flashed forward and snapped Caroline's neck, catching her body as she fell to the ground and carrying her over to her car. She opened the truck up and stuffed her inside, checking her phone. "Well, Caroline, it's a fourteen-hour drive to New Orleans, and if we leave now and break a few laws, we should be there by night fall."

* * *

As soon as Rebekah arrived, they had the matter of Freya's recent attack to talk about. Rebekah sat on the sofa with her, and told her a little about her new skin condition. Eventually, Hayley left them to talk to Jackson, and Freya lowered her voice to talk to Rebekah.

"Hey, um… Tristan said something about Finn the other day, which got me thinking. How is it Elijah doesn't even have hope for him?" She asked, her eyebrows knitting together. "He has hope for all of you, except Finn."

Rebekah didn't reply straight away. Her face fell and she looked dire. "Freya, it's been a long trip," she dodged. "I'm tired, and there's been a lot of stress for one day. Besides, it's Christmas. I'd rather not ruin the day any further."

"Yeah, I get it," Freya said, nodding. "Klaus said something similar. But I'm Finn's sister too, the only one he likes. I should know what he did that was so bad. Apparently, he killed family. I didn't know there was any more of you."

Rebekah sighed. "Freya, I promise I will tell you, but not right now." She looked around at everyone else in the courtyard. "Not here."

"Okay," Freya agreed, relenting. "Okay, later."

Rebekah paused and then turned her voice to a whisper. "Is Elijah okay?" She asked, nervously. "I heard Katherine came back. That bitch seems to have really done a number on him."

Freya looked over to Elijah, who looked sad. It was the same way he'd looked for days. Not angry anymore. Just sad. And he'd been so happy when Katherine was there. "He's playing sad music," Freya claimed with a shrug. "He doesn't sleep. He barely drinks blood. He's not talking to anyone except from factual exchanges of information, reduced to a one-sentence answer. I think he's heartbroken, but he kind of does all that anyway."

Rebekah shook her head, angrily. "That bitch," she mused. "She only ever pops into Elijah's life to hurt him and then leave."

Freya shrugged. "I don't know. She seemed genuine."

"Yeah, she always does," Rebekah claimed. "But you don't know her like I do. It's an act. She doesn't care about anyone but herself. She doesn't know how. Don't trust her, Freya. She only knows how to hurt people."

* * *

Over the next few hours, Rebekah peaked in her insanity, and Freya almost killed herself attempting a spell to save her before she killed Hayley. Camille and Klaus arrived home after saving an innocent man from suicide, and Hayley and Jackson put their disagreements to the side to enjoy Christmas with the family.

All seemed perfectly right in the world.

Elijah observed the scene from a balcony, looking down at the bright Christmas tree and array of presents. But one almost went unnoticed. A folded piece of paper, barely balancing on the railing of the balcony, with his name scribbled across it.

His eyes narrowed and he picked it up, unfolding it and scanning over it. Then he read it again. And again. He read it a number of times until he had completely memorised every word and annotated every sentence.

 _My Dearest, Elijah,_

 _I lied. I do that sometimes. But I lied to you about what I lied about._

 _When I showed up in New Orleans, I told you I had enemies everywhere who would be coming for me. But I lied. I was running from one in particular. One so strong, your family is the only collection of people who could stand against him. So, I made a deal with Klaus._

 _I lied when I told you Nadia Petrova died in 1542. She died last year at my side, like I originally told you. Markos and I haven't been physically together since we conceived Nadia._

 _And I don't care about the dangers your life brings to mine, because you're worth every problem you cause. Which is why, after five hundred years, I still did not give up on you. Being with you was never part of the plan, but when I saw you again at the hotel bar I couldn't stop myself._

 _I apologise if this is all rushed and unexplained. I don't have a lot of time._

 _When struggling to survive, you're always better off with a good lie. But I want you to know the truth._

 _My lies won't do me any good any more._

 _For the last time: goodbye, my Lord._

 _Yours, always and forever,_

 _Katerina._

While she was focusing on her survival, she would always stick to her lies, for her own damn safety. She specifically stated that in the letter, as well as to his face multiple times. But she claimed not to need her lies anymore. She didn't care about her survival anymore. There was only one reason she would reveal all her secrets in one go this way.

 _The last time._

Freya walked up to Elijah, leaning against the balcony with him and looking over the Christmas festivities, looking distant. "100 years ago, I snuck into a Christmas ball here. And I wanted so much to be a part of it. But I thought I was forever fated to be an outsider. Always looking in. I know this hasn't been your most elegant family Christmas, but… It's the best one I've ever had."

She leaned her chin on Elijah's shoulder and he took her hand in an attempt to find comfort, as the news sank its way into his heart.

"What's wrong?" Freya asked, realising instantly how something was up.

Elijah swallowed and tucked the letter into his jacket pocket. "Katherine Pierce is dead," he informed her, quite casually. He slipped his hand from her grip and stalked off down the hall, closing the door to his own private sanctuary and letting the emotional turmoil engulf him.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Klaus found Camille on the balcony, overlooking the beauty of the New Orleans night time. "You look…" he mused as he approached her.

"Do not say tired," she requested, turning around and leaning against the railing. "You've lived long enough to know never to tell a woman she looks tired."

Klaus smirked, stepping closer. "I was going to say contemplative." Camille laughed and Klaus cocked his head. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Camille looked distant, and almost sad. "I was thinking about you. And what Katherine and Aurora said about you. That I mean nothing but a reminder of a girl you loved in another city. Caroline. Who is she?"

He looked into the street and took a deep breath. "Miss Mystic Falls," he informed her. "She's a beauty queen. A cheerleader. A young vampire. She really meant a lot to me. I was still pining for her when I met you, but we never dated. And while parts of you remind me of parts of her, you are not a carbon copy."

Camille nodded, appreciating his honesty. "And um… Aurora. Was she right? Were you really trying to get her to kill me, so she'd ignore Caroline?" There was a long pause, where Klaus neglected to answer, and so Camille continued. "Because you mean more to me than that," she whispered, stepping closer. "But if you're willing to let me die, to have me killed, for some other girl, then… Then we're not on the same page and… You need to let me go. Because this hurts me. And I don't want to wait around to find out if the pain is worth it. So just be honest with me."

Finally, Klaus nodded. "Yes," he said. "I was going to have you killed if it ensured Caroline's safety."

Camille nodded again, clearly expecting that answer. A single tear fell down her cheek and she touched Klaus's arm briefly before walking away and leaving him alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Burying his pain further down inside of him, Elijah managed to get out of the compound and into one of the neat alleyways of New Orleans, where Rebekah was waiting for him. "I got your message," he muttered, trying to keep his voice normal.

"I was halfway to the airport when I got the sudden urge to rip out my taxi driver's jugular," Rebekah told him, matter-of-factly. "I only just resisted." She pulled up the sleeve of her coat to show him the mark that reappeared on the newly grown skin.

Elijah didn't reply straight away. He was too far in shock. No, that couldn't be happening. He could watch his sister fall into pain and insanity on the same day that he finally lost his Katerina for good. No day could be that bad. Which meant that mark couldn't be real.

He stepped forward, shaking his head, and took her arm, examining it. "No," he said, more to himself than to her when he realised it was true.

"I'm afraid so," Rebekah said, grimly.

"Freya can try something else," Elijah decided. He was not going to lose his sister today. Not today.

"And what if we run out of time?" Rebekah asked him, regretfully. "I already went after Hayley. Who's next? Freya herself?" There was a pause as Rebekah emphasised the situation. "Hope? And even if she can-"

"You don't want to run," Elijah guessed. His sister was surprisingly alike to Katerina. Perhaps that was the reason for their cruel hatred towards each other?

Rebekah smiled, slightly. "No, I always hated it," she said. Ah. That was the difference. Rebekah pulled a dagger, one of their brother's, out of her pocket and handed it to him. It had already been dipped in ash, it just needed to be used. "Hide my body," she recommended. "Do not tell a soul. Especially not Niklaus. Let him be happy. Just this once. This is our burden to bare. Yours and mine. When the year that the prophecy foretold is over, have Freya figure out a cure, wake me up and throw me one hell of a party."

Elijah just shook his head. "I can't," he whispered, his eyes beginning to turn red with the grief.

"Why not?" Rebekah exclaimed. "Maybe the only way to stop this stupid prophecy is to embrace it! Control it. If we can control it then maybe we can change it." She stepped closer to Elijah, who stepped away. "When I am buried, the family part of the prophecy will be over. You'll be able to trust them again. Freya, Niklaus. You can stop anyone, friend or foe, that comes at you. So do it, Elijah."

He raised a hand to silence her. "No," he pleaded.

"Do it!" She insisted, pushing the dagger into his hand and aiming it for her chest. "DO IT!"

Elijah always forgot how satisfying it was to stab something. He always ribbed, or snapped his enemies to the points of their deaths. He rarely had need for weapons, and so he rarely got to stab people.

But oh, was it satisfying.

The tension released from his shoulders and back when the blade entered his sister's heart. His muscles relaxed for a split second and he sighed, contently.

Then he realised what he'd done, and caught her as she fell, picking her up to take her home, and instantly regretting the whole lot of it.

* * *

Aurora sat at the piano, softly playing music as she thought to herself. Tristan approached her, and set a little bottle on top of the piano, sitting down next to her. "Beautiful," he complimented. "You should play more."

Aurora smiled. "Oh, I never stopped playing," she promised. "I compose whole songs in my head, brother." She stopped playing suddenly and turned to him with a grin.

"You had a good day then," Tristan deduced, seeming happy for her.

Aurora nodded, positively delighted. "Hm, yes. A beautiful day. And here's to an even better tomorrow." She resumed playing, picking up where she left off and turning away from Tristan.

Both of Klaus's interests were completely where she wanted them. Camille's throat was slit and she was due to wake up as a vampire any moment. And Caroline? Well that poor darling was upstairs, tied to a chair with vervain soaked ropes and a snapped neck. There was a little bow on her head, so when Klaus found her, she looked just like a Christmas Present.

* * *

 **New Years Eve…**

The brunette strutted through the empty street, her heels clicking as her long legs took strides through cars to reach her own. But the increasing sound of footsteps behind her was impossible to ignore. It was when she finally reached her car that she realised who was behind her, and what was happening.

Katherine gently put her handbag down on the concrete and turned around to face her attacker, taking a very deep breath.

For the first time in five hundred years, she wasn't afraid. There was no way out of it, no way to run. She may as well embrace it.

She even nodded, understandingly.

"Will he be okay?" She whispered holding her head up high. She never got a reply. Instead, her attacker raised their crossbow and fired. It pierced through her heart and she fell down onto the concrete, clutching her chest. The brick wall behind her stained with blood and she didn't even get the chance to close her eyes before she finally died.

* * *

 **AN: Do not blame me. I am but a simple instrument to the muse...** **-Izzy x**


	10. Chapter 9

**AN: I urge you to pay attention to any dates I give, otherwise nothing is going to make sense. When I wrote Katherine's death, I wrote "New Years Eve" but this chapter is set on boxing day. Kat has a whole week.**

 **Just, pay attention to the dates, that's all I'm going to say.**

 **(Also, I was planning on slowing the updates down when Caroline arrived, but I'm rethinking that, because I love updating and I'm very changeable.)** **-Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine – The Originals 3x10**

Klaus was enraged that morning. He paced around the compound, his fists balled up at his sides. He flipped one of the tables and most of the chairs. Freya was sat down, watching him uneasily as he rampaged.

Camille had just showed up on their doorstep, covered in blood and looking frantic. She told Klaus all about Aurora's attack and her death, before running upstairs to shower.

Freya left him for a minute before coming back with even worse news, and a Christmas card.

"Klaus!" Freya exclaimed, interrupting his angry grumbling. "Klaus!"

"What?" Her brother exclaimed, turning to her and making her flinch. "What is it?"

"Aurora sent us a Christmas card," she announced, unfolding the decorated paper and reading aloud the message inside: "My dearest, Klaus. My love. I wish you the best Christmas ever, and a very joyful new year. And I hope you appreciate my golden gifts. All my love, Aurora."

"Does she have to be so patronising," Klaus exclaimed, "about the fact she's destroyed my therapist's life?"

Freya pulled out a polaroid picture that was tucked into the card. In it was a young blonde girl, tied to a chair with a piece of cloth acting as a gag in her mouth. "Klaus, she sent a picture. I don't know who this girl is, but it's not Camille."

Klaus seemed to calm down at the sight of the picture, but Freya knew better. He'd become eerily calm. Destructively calm. "Freya," Klaus muttered. "Text Elijah. Tell him that Aurora has Caroline, and I am going to reign hell."

Elijah found Klaus immediately after he heard the news. He discarded his jacket and turned to his younger brother, worried. "How is she?" He asked.

"Which she? Camille has just risen from the dead," Klaus informed him, direly. "The moment she has fed, she shall begin to feel better. In the meantime, these attacks need to be answered!" His voice raised as he angrily gestured. "Aurora has taken Caroline, and I fear she will do something much worse than what she's already done to Camille. Our retribution must be swift, and it must be brutal."

"Agreed," Elijah said, promptly. " _After_ the amulet has been recovered." He paused and allowed his agreement soothe his brother. "Freya's pendant is also missing," he said, as calmly as he could.

"And Finn's mystical essence along with it," Klaus finished. "But let him stay lost. Our business today is to finish off Aurora! And her blasted brother along with her, passenger or no passenger."

"No, brother," Elijah mused. "Think. Tristan needs the most powerful witch in the city to activate that weapon. A regent."

Klaus's eyes grew dark. "Vincent," he guessed. "Who was once possessed by Finn. Well, we know what your task is today. I'm off to save Caroline, I'll see you for dinner."

"Niklaus, wait," Elijah ordered in the softest way he could. "What of Camille? She is new, and uncontrollable."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Fine, you babysit Camille, I'll save Caroline, then we'll visit the witches."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Camille insisted on sitting with Elijah, curled up on the couch opposite him with her hair still wet and her knees to her chest. She looked distant, and broken. "I don't want to die," she admitted to him, sadly. "I don't want to drink human blood, or become a vampire but… I'm not ready to die. Not today, at least. It's not fair."

Elijah rolled his eyes at her attempt to make human contact. "All lives end," he informed her, matter-of-factly. "All hearts are broken. Even the ones with no humanity, the vampires skilled in the art of survival. "Everybody dies, Camille. You may as well get it over with. Caring is not an advantage in life."

Camille narrowed her eyes, studying him. He'd only ever mentioned Katherine's misfortune to Freya, and then tried to convince her that he wasn't sure, and she may well be safe, only to relieve himself of her pity and sorrow.

The therapist across from him blinked, leaning forward. "You lost someone, didn't you?" She guessed, resting her head on her chin. "Someone you never expected to really lose. Did you love them?"

Now Elijah leaned forward to mimic her movements. "Love," he mused, distastefully. "That's the problem with humans. You all care so much. A vampire's emotions are supposed to be heightened, but in certain situations, they just stop. The switch is a lie; I'm not in control. I don't believe any vampires are. There's something wrong with us."

"But you do care," she insisted. "I can see it."

Elijah blinked, cocking his head and thinking. "In the last five hundred years, I have loved her, despised her, tried to kill her, tried to save her. Now she's dead, and I feel nothing."

Camille nodded, listening carefully. "Often when people, even humans, experience emotional trauma, they can become numb to feeling anything, even physical. It's not the loss of you humanity-"

She was interrupted by Elijah picking her up by her neck and throwing her to the far wall. Some of the plaster broke away as she made impact. Elijah flashed towards her and choked her, holding her in place and glaring at her.

"Do. Not. Analyse. Me." He ordered, angrily. "I am _not_ one of your patients."

"Sorry," Camille squeaked, desperately.

He leaned forward and compelled her: "Go upstairs. Sit tight and behave yourself. Don't get out of control. Forget everything we discussed." He let go of her and she moved calmly upstairs. "Freya!" Elijah called. "I'm going to meet the witches."

* * *

Caroline woke up and groaned, her throat squeaking. "Hello?!" She called, croakily. The ropes that bound her wrists and ankles were laced with vervain, so she didn't fight against them. It would wear away her skin and get into her bloodstream, weakening her. "Hello?"

She looked around, trying to determine a location. She seemed to be in an empty house, with no furniture or people. She guessed she was in the living room, but with her vampire hearing, she couldn't identify anyone else in the house. She looked over to the window and her face fell with the terror of what she saw outside.

"The suburbs?!" She exclaimed, angrily. "Seriously?!"

She heard the familiar click-clack of heels and that bitch appeared from the kitchen with a smirk on her face. Aurora or something dumb like that. "Merry Boxing Day!" She greeted, twirling a knife in her fingers. "Welcome to New Orleans."

Caroline paused, blinking. "New Orleans? Are you for real?" She looked out the window again. She'd expected it to be all colourful buildings and balconies and jazz musicians. "New Orleans has suburbs," she noticed, dryly.

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Obviously," she told her. "Klaus will never find you here. Not until I want him too, anyway." She moved forward and put the blade to Caroline's cheek. Her skin sizzled with vervain and Aurora slowly cut her, dragging the knife along her face.

Caroline gritted her teeth in pain, but didn't allow herself to cry out. "Why are you doing this to me?" She demanded as soon as the knife left her skin. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You stole the affections of the love of my life!" Aurora exclaimed, furiously.

Caroline huffed. " _Please_. I tried to get him to leave me alone. Punish him, for god's sake."

Aurora scowled. "I want Klaus to stop trying to tear my family apart," she explained, running the blade along Caroline's collarbone. "And I want to send a message. To you, to Camille, to Hayley… Klaus Mikaelson is _mine_."

Caroline cried out slightly at the burning sensation in her flesh. Aurora just giggled, completely delighted by the pain.

When she withdrew the knife, Caroline scowled and tried to hurt Aurora as much as she hurt her. "Is Klaus really yours if he's been pining over me as hard as he did?" She mused, her eyes narrowing. "It wasn't your name he was calling out when we were pressed up against that tree, with my legs wrapped around him- ARGH!"

She was cut off by Aurora stabbing her in the stomach and slapping her at the same time. "Don't try and play games, bitch," she ordered. "I am not in the mood."

* * *

Elijah walked back into the compound with Vincent trailing after him. Freya was stood upright in the living space, looking upset about something, and Elijah moved to question her. "Freya," he said, soothingly. "What is happening?"

A tear rolled down Freya's cheek as she let her hands drop. "Some compelled tourist… He left this."

Elijah followed her line of sight to a carboard box on the coffee table. Wondering vaguely if it was a bomb, he slowly lifted the lid and peered inside at the fresh, bloody human heart. Freya turned away, clearly disturbed by the gift.

"Who?" Elijah asked, closing the box again.

"Jackson," Freya answered, and Elijah felt himself sigh slightly in relief. At least it wasn't Caroline. That would quite possibly destroy his brother for good. But there was a pause over the group as they realised what had happened. "Curtesy of the Strix," Freya added, handing Elijah the note that came along with it, telling them of Hayley's fate.

Elijah sighed to himself and paused, thinking. "Where's Camille?" He asked.

"Upstairs, right where you left her," Freya told him. She sat down, still in shock of the body part, and the grief of losing a friend. "What do we do?"

Elijah sighed, unsure. "Vincent, I apologise, today is quite busy for us all. You'll have to excuse us. Freya, could you try and find some blood for Camille? I would quite like to make some progress on that situation. I'm going to arrange a trade with Tristan for Hayley."

Freya blinked. "We don't have anything to give him," she reminded him.

Elijah smirked. "Klaus is so close to retrieving Aurora."

* * *

Three more cuts to her face, and seven stab wounds in her stomach. Caroline had bled right through her white shirt, and her jacket and jeans were sticky with blood. Her hair was stained and she was beginning to get hungry, her fangs producing from their sockets and her eyes turning red. She really had enough of this torture.

"I don't understand," Aurora mused. She'd pulled up a chair of her own and leaned her high-heeled feet against the arms of Caroline's. "As far as I can see, you're a shallow blonde beauty queen, from a small town. What does Klaus see in you?"

Caroline sucked her teeth, thinking about it. "I might be a shallow blonde beauty queen," she agreed, shrugging. "But I'm a pretty stubborn blonde beauty queen. What's the point in having someone who's desperate for his love? I'm more of a challenge."

Aurora narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. "Cami and I shared a certain darkness," she informed her. "You… you're a vampire, so I'm guessing you've killed before. Did you enjoy it as much as Nik does?"

Caroline paused before speaking. "You know, I don't really like mind games," she informed her. "You're not going to get any insecurities out of me. Not anymore."

Caroline shifted her weight from her back to her feet and pushed off the ground with all of her vampire strength. The chair collided with the back wall, which partially crumbled along with the shattered chair. She landed on her feet and shook the ropes off of her wrists and ankles.

Aurora got to her feet, genuinely surprised, and ran towards her.

Caroline picked up one of the fallen chair legs and aimed it as Aurora ran forward, so she collided straight with the make-shift stake. Caroline pushed it forward, impaling her through her stomach.

Aurora looked winded, lost for breath. Caroline pushed her back with the chair leg, like a kebab, and shoved her against another wall. She pushed the stake all the way through, until the redhead was pinned there. She tried to stab Caroline again with the vervain-soaked knife, but missed.

Caroline grabbed the knife from her and used it to stab her in the eye.

It was gruesome, sure, but as long as the blade was in there and she couldn't heal, then she was useless in a fight, her brain simply refusing to cooperate with her anger.

Caroline was about to stake her through the heart, when the door burst open and Klaus appeared next to her.

"Hello love," he greeted, taking the stake gently from her. "I do apologise, but the mother of my daughter is in danger, and we really need to borrow Aurora." He admired Caroline's handiwork, and slowly took the knife out of Aurora's eye. "Nice work, sweetheart."

"Yeah, maybe I was a little too harsh," Caroline snapped, sarcastically. "Klaus, what the hell is going on? Why are your crazy girlfriends kidnapping and cutting me?!"

Klaus snapped Aurora's neck and let her drop to the floor, grabbing her by the ankle to drag her along. "It's a long story," he admitted. "And one I really don't have time for. Come along." She put his hand on her upper back and lead her – and dragged Aurora – out of the house and to his car.

Caroline told Klaus about Aurora's arrival in Mystic Falls and he told her that she'd done the same thing to Camille, a friend of his. He told her that she was clinically unstable.

"Okay, is she going to try again?" Caroline asked, crossing her arms in the front seat of his car. "Because that's what I care about, Klaus. There's enough trouble in Mystic Falls without our problems merging!"

"Aurora won't make a move against you again," Klaus promised her, gripping the steering wheel angrily. "I ensure you that this will be her last kidnapping in general."

Caroline snapped her head to look at him. "Oh, and she doesn't have any bitches to do her dirty work?" She asked. Klaus didn't reply and Caroline looked slightly smug. "Yeah, I thought so. How did she even know about me?"

"Camille told her in an effort to save her own life," Klaus explained, gritting his teeth. "I didn't think she'd really go to the effort of tracking you down. Did she hurt you?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "I staked her through the stomach and stabbed her in the eye with a vervain-soaked knife," she reminded Klaus with a proud smirk. "And you're asking if she hurt me too much?"

Klaus smirked and tossed her a fond look. "I should have known better than to believe you needed saving," he agreed. "There's a very complicated plan in place so forgive me, but I'll have to explain it all to you later."

They pulled up at the docks and got out of the car. Aurora's body was kept in the trunk and Klaus left her there as they approached Elijah, who was stood there waiting for them.

"Everything's ready, and Tristan should be here in a moment," he informed them. "Markos, Tristan, who cares? He's gone for good after this. Aurora?"

"Unconscious in my trunk," Klaus said, smirking. "Caroline, sweetheart, to avoid further questions, would you mind staying out of sight as this all goes down?"

Caroline agreed and flashed to the top of the warehouse, sitting herself down on some tall shelves to watch from afar. Some pretentious douche in a suit showed up with a crowd of people, and the Mikaelsons tricked him into entering a crate and not coming out.

Although, Aurora came out, which made no sense considering she was still supposed to be in Klaus's trunk. But as she walked, she turned into a tall, pale blonde girl, who looked pretty sick. Elijah made some speech to the crowd about being their sire, and then they dispersed. Hayley, looking sweaty and bloody, closed the crate doors with distaste before turning away.

When they were finished, Caroline jumped down, surprising the blonde girl – who she assumed was Camille – and turned to Klaus. "So, what the hell has been going on in New Orleans?!"

-0-0-0-0-0-

Later that evening, Caroline found herself on one of the many balconies of the compound, wearing clothes she was forced to borrow from Hayley, and sipping on a glass of wine. She fed, showered and accepted a guest bedroom at Klaus's home.

"No Bonnie, I'm fine," she was saying into her phone, overlooking the beautiful streets of New Orleans. "Yeah, I promise. I'll be back soon. I'm with Klaus, what could go wrong? Yes, I'm sure." There was a pause as Caroline fiddled with the hem of the cardigan. "Bonnie, could you please… not… tell Stefan? It's just really not worth the fight, and I don't want him to worry. He has enough on his plate anyway."

She stopped talking when she sensed Klaus approaching behind her.

"I gotta go," she said. "I love you, too. Bye." She hung up and slipped the phone into her back pocket and crossed her arms as she turned Klaus. "Hey."

Klaus smiled at her and stepped forward, his eyes twinkling in the light of the evening. "Now why would you be keeping a secret from your perfectly platonic best friend, Stefan?" He asked, teasingly.

Caroline rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Stefan's actually my boyfriend," she stressed. "And I love him very much."

"Oh," Klaus said, looking smug in his interest. "Is that why you're lying to him?"

"Don't, Klaus," she pleaded. "I'm not in the mood." She sipped her wine and turned back to him. "So how did everything turn out in the end?"

Klaus shrugged, leaning on the railing and overlooking the street with her. "Camille drank the blood of her human friend," he informed her. "Hayley's mourning the death of her husband alone. Tristan's nearing the bottom of the ocean as we speak."

Caroline nodded. Klaus had already explained everything that was going on, including the prophecy and Aurora. "If you want, I can talk to Camille," she suggested. "I mean, she did throw me under the bus. But apparently, she and I are a lot alike."

Klaus lowered his head, mainly to hide his smile. "What can I say?" He mused. "I have a type."

Caroline cocked her head at him. "Do you care about her?"

There was a pause before he shrugged. "I thought I did," he acknowledged. "But when she spoke to Aurora about you… I purposely tried to get her killed for your protection. Now, I don't know."

She shook her head. "Don't do that again," she ordered. "I can take care of myself."

"Evidently."

They were silent for a little while, watching as a couple held hands on the street, laughing together as they walked. "You were right," Caroline told him. "This city's really beautiful."

"I wish I could have shown it to you under better circumstances," he mused.

"You could do that tomorrow," she offered. "I'm going to stay for a while." There was a pause before she pulled her phone back out of her pocket. "I should call Stefan," she said. "Wish him goodnight."

Klaus nodded and left her alone of the balcony, wondering how on hell she ended up staying in his home.

* * *

 **AN: I KNOW THIS CHAPTER WAS SHORT BUT PLEASE GIVE ME THE ATTENTION I CRAVE AND LEAVE A REVIEW I LOVE YOU** **-Izzy x**


	11. Chapter 10

**AN: First of all, thank you all so much for over a hundred follows - that really means a lot to me, so I really appreciate it. And thank you again, for all of the kind reviews. My computers been such a bitch, I've been trying to update this for days, I swear. Anyway, I finished rewriting season 3 (just in time for season 4 lmao) so I'm going to be updated like an addict from now on. I know this chapter is short, but it's made with love.** **-Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten – The Originals 3x11**

Klaus slowly picked through the collection of drained blood bags left on Camille's bed and scowled. He stormed into the other room where Elijah was sat behind a table, flicking through some pictures with a scotch in his hand. "Where is she?" Klaus asked.

Elijah didn't look up as he replied. "Are you referring to Caroline or Camille?"

There was a couch on the other side of the room, where Caroline was lounging on her phone. But she looked up at the mention of her name and looked offended. "I've literally been here for like, fifteen minutes."

Elijah looked up at her and paused. "Oh. Camille then. Remind me, was it I who impulsively handed her a daylight ring, or was it you, Niklaus?"

Klaus rolled his eyes at the sarcasm before guessing the rest of his brother's meaning. "She left, didn't she?"

"In a shocking turn of events," Elijah mused, finishing his drink and instantly pouring another one, "yes."

"I can help you find her, if you want," Caroline volunteered from the couch, without looking up from her phone. Klaus craned his neck to see what was so interesting, but all he saw was a certain Bennett's _Instagram_.

"Good idea," Elijah agreed. "I'll stay and deal with the matter of our family's potential extinction."

"Or I can stay and help Elijah?" Caroline suggested again, clearly attempting to prioritise.

Klaus glanced at her fondly, before glaring at Elijah. "Not to worry, Love, Elijah is paranoid. I for one think we're quite safe now that Tristan is literally sleeping with the fishes."

Elijah shook his head, sitting down in the chair behind the desk. "No, no I believe something else is out there, something capable of killing us. We should probably find it." He looked anxious, an expression Klaus hadn't seen on him for years. Not to mention the stubble, the loosened tie, and the lack of jacket on his brother. He'd probably been overworking this case.

"Well," Caroline chimed in again, finally sitting up and putting her phone away. "We can't let Camille run around town killing people, can we?"

Before Klaus could answer, they were joined by another guest. Hayley walked in, her eyes looking red and her face free of make-up. She held Hope in her arms and glanced over the three of them. "She left early this morning." She informed them, shifting Hope higher on her hip. "I saw her from the balcony. I couldn't sleep." She looked away, sheepishly. "So, um, I was wondering if it was okay if Hope and I stay here for a couple of days?"

"Of course," Elijah said instantly, but without looking at her "you may."

Caroline felt the tension in the room and walked over to Hayley, allowing Hope to grab a lock of her hair. "Hey baby!" She laughed. "Hello you beautiful thing!"

Hayley seemed relieved at the distraction, and turned to Caroline. Klaus walked over to join them, and smiled. "Yes, Caroline, you haven't had the opportunity to meet my daughter yet, have you?"

"Only in stories," she claimed, holding Hope's little hand. "She's so sweet." She looked up to the Mom, and put on her most comforting face. "Hayley, if you need anything, a babysitter or drinking buddy, I'm here for the weekend, so give me a call."

Hayley nodded, forcing a smile. "Thanks, Caroline. I appreciate it."

Klaus smirked and rested his hand between Caroline's shoulder blades. "Come on, Love," he said before turning to Hayley. "We'll be out for the day. Make yourself at home."

* * *

"So this is the local watering hole," Caroline mused as she followed Klaus into Rousseau's. "The Mystic Grill to the French Quarter?" She looked around at the live music and the buzzing life as Klaus lead her to the bar. "They're actually quite similar. Damn, you do have a type, don't you?"

Klaus just laughed the comment away as bought them both drinks, remembering one of Caroline's favourites.

"So, you think Cami's going to be here?" Caroline asked, sitting down with him and sipping her drink, barely resisting the urge to join in on the increasing party. "Oh, there she is."

They looked across the bar to Camille, where she was angrily snarling at a man with a backwards hat, clearly taking her 'hangry' out on him. Klaus bought her a drink and sent it down the bar, before coaxing her into one of the far-away booths where they could talk.

"Thank you for the drink," Camille snapped, scowling. She sat on the other side of the booth from Klaus and Caroline, and could only give dirty looks to the pair of them.

"Well, you seemed kind of thirsty," Klaus told her, glancing to the man at the bar Camille had been targeting. You would have torn that man apart. Whether you meant to or not. Probably be doing the world a favour in the process, but-"

"I'm a vampire now, Klaus," Camille reminding him. "Isn't that the point? We hunt, we feed, we kill."

"No," Caroline chimed in, looking shocked at the degrading sentiment. "No that's not the point. Camille, there are so many better aspects of being immortal-"

"Why are you here?" Camille interrupted.

"Camille," Klaus snapped in a scolding manner. "She's here to help you. Not three years ago, Caroline was experiencing the exact same problem, isn't that right?" He turned to Caroline before turning back. "Now our little chats might have you feeling equipped to live in this world, but you're not and there's no better mentor than Caroline."

Camille rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Oh, spare me. I don't need to hear her praised every few seconds. I pretty much died for her. You don't need to pour salt in the wound."

There was a slight pause before Caroline leaned forward on her elbows and reminded Camille of one very important little fact. "I haven't even spoken to you before," Caroline claimed, crossing her arms. "You have no right to hate me, especially when I'm here to help."

Camille paused, looking down. She seemed ashamed of herself, but still kind of upset. "You're right. I'm sorry. My emotions are all over the place, and it's like someone turned the volume up on my life, and I can't hear myself think, and it all feels so good. I don't mean to be a bitch."

Caroline nodded at the apology, deciding to forgive her. "Hey, it's fine. When I turned, I literally ripped my boyfriend's throat apart. But if you're gonna learn, you may as well learn from the best."

-0-0-0-0-0-

In the alleyway behind Rousseau's, Camille approached a couple who were furiously making out against a wall. She pulled the guy off of her and bit into the girl's neck. Naturally, her boyfriend yelled and tried to run away, but Caroline stopped him, and compelled him not to be afraid, and not to leave. The girl on the other hand, couldn't make a sound.

"Listen to the heartbeat," Klaus instructed. "It'll tell you when to stop." When the heartbeat started to slow down, Camille didn't stop. "Cami," Klaus called. "Camille." When she still didn't stop, Klaus pulled her away.

Camille looked between Klaus and Caroline and scowled to herself. "I'm sorry, the two of you are really making me anxious. One of you has to go. I don't care which one."

Caroline looked up and held her hands behind her back, coughing slightly and waiting patiently for Klaus to leave. Camille turned to Klaus expectantly, and eventually he got the message. "Very well," he said, before turning to Caroline. "Good luck, Love." He flashed away and Caroline watched Camille's face fall.

"Camille, I'm sorry," she said, softly. "Boys don't really understand, do they?"

"You gotta compel that girl to forget," Camille ordered her.

Caroline almost smirked. "Excuse me? _You_ gotta compel that girl to forget. She's your meal, Camille, not mine."

Camille blinked. "I don't know how."

Caroline smiled at her, comfortingly, and lead her over to the girl she bit. "It's easy," she promised. "Just look into her eyes and say it as meaningfully as possible."

Camille nodded and leaned towards the girl, staring her straight in the eye. "Be afraid," she ordered. Before Caroline could react, Camille turned around and snapped her neck, leaving her lying alone in the alleyway.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Naturally, Caroline found Camille in a heartbeat, leaving Lucien's place with a bag full of dark objects. She pinned the newbie vampire against the wall and spat out the word 'bitch' before snapping Camille's neck and dragging her ass back to the compound and making a comment to Hayley about getting real revenge at some point.

"No, don't," Hayley begged. "Come on, Caroline. She's having a really shitty day. Haven't you ever just had a really bad day?"

Caroline glowered for a second. "I'm not going to let her toss me around like a puppet when all I've ever done was try to help her!"

"Caroline, she needs your help, true," Hayley said with a nod. "But she's hurt. The man she's in love with, cares only about you. And she's recently learned that she's just a copy. Even if your intentions are pure, you just gotta let her lick her wounds."

Hayley took it from there, and when Klaus tried to find her, to emphasise the point that nobody snapped Caroline's neck and got away with it, she was nowhere to be found.

"Where is Camille?" Klaus demanded, storming into Hayley's bedroom with anger coursing through his veins.

"She's gone home," Hayley said, leaning over a table and not turning around to talk to him. "She needed some time. And yes. I let her go. I know you think you're helping, but all you're doing is pissing her off and it's the last thing that she needs – trust me."

"I wasn't done with-"

"Listen!" Hayley exclaimed, standing up straight and facing him. "Klaus. The Cami that you knew, is gone. And whoever she's gonna be is something that she has to figure out by herself." She scowled at Klaus, and he couldn't quite figure out why.

"She snapped Caroline's neck to hurt me," Klaus explained, angrily. "I won't have people coming at me through Caroline like that."

Hayley rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "You wanna keep Caroline safe, huh? Well guess what? The people you think you're keeping safe – Elijah, Rebekah, even Hope – sometimes you do them more harm than good."

Klaus paused, his eyes widening. He walked past Hayley and leaned on the back of a chair, clearly lost in thought.

"What?" Hayley demanded.

"What you just said," Klaus told her. "Keeping Rebekah safe. I know what the weapon is. I made it myself." He stormed past her, leaving the room without an explanation. Hayley followed him downstairs to the parlour, where he started tearing bookshelves apart trying to find something. Elijah and Caroline joined them, watching. "All of my efforts to protect and provide comfort for my family…" he mused as he searched.

"Klaus, you're not making any sense," Hayley informed him,

"The pale horse," Klaus explained, anxiously. "It's not a constellation, nor it is a biblical verse. It's a trinket I made when we were children. I toy I carved from kindling, which I gave to Rebekah in the hopes of easing her fears."

Elijah's eyes narrowed. "The horse was made of the white oak," he realised. "The weapon is here."

They all set off to search Hayley and Jackson's apartment, where she last saw the toy. But it was nowhere to be found. "This doesn't make any sense," Hayley claimed. "It was here, I saw it."

"When?" Klaus asked.

"This afternoon," Hayley told him. "I swear!"

"Oh, I believe you," Klaus said, turning to face them. "We're just here a little too late. I only told one other person about this. My trusted therapist."

"Camille took it?" Caroline asked, doubtfully. "Why?"

Klaus shrugged. "With her newfound case of split-personality disorder, your guess is as good as mine."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Luckily, Camille didn't neglect to pick up her phone when Klaus called. "I'm guessing you might be a little bit mad right now," she mused on the other end of the line. "But trust me, you have nothing to worry about. I just want back what's mine. Starting with my dark objects. I figured I needed to get your attention, given the fact you're a little busy pining over some teenager. So, do I have it?"

Klaus snarled. "In point of fact, you do."

"Good," Camille said. "Then we'll be in touch."

* * *

Elijah had been trying to approach quietly, with the element of surprise on his hands, but the young blonde witch heard him nonetheless. She was kneeling by the pool of water and seemed saddened by what to come.

"You found it," she guessed. "Which means you've come to kill me." Elijah didn't reply as he slowly walked towards her. "We both know I have no more answers to give you," the girl continued. "And you cannot allow me to live with what I've seen."

Elijah came to a stop directly behind her and kept his back straight. When the girl spoke again, she sounded on the verge of tears.

"Those things you keep hidden," she said, breathily. She got to her feet and stayed still as Elijah began to move her hair from her shoulder, revealing her pale neck. "I am released," she claimed.

He took a firmer grip of her neck and kept her still as he bit into it, letting the blood explode into his mouth. When she died, he pulled away and dropped her body into the pool of water, ignoring the splash and watching it stain red.

There was a pause before he heard the sound of footprints. "How brutal," mused a cheerful voice behind him. Elijah turned to face the man he'd met briefly at the Strix's party "Affective, but horrible. She was so young."

Elijah blinked. "Arc, was it?"

"Short for Arcadius," he claimed, stepping forward bravely. "Usually nicknamed Cade."

Elijah felt his eyes narrow for just a moment. "A term used for the devil," he informed him, becoming unsure of the man's intentions. He'd only ever seen him at one gathering of the Strix after all…

Cade nodded. "That's right," he told him. "I sort you out tonight to discuss with you, the whereabouts of Katerina Petrova, but I see now, that you haven't spoken to her since she left town, and you called her. And you haven't heard from her since receiving her letter on Christmas Day."

Elijah paused. "How could you possibly-"

Cade waved away the question before Elijah could ask it. "You would do good not to question or underestimate me," he claimed. "I just wanted to assure myself that the information I have on Katerina is the same as the information you have. Consider me reassured."

He turned to leave but Elijah called after him. "Who are you?" He asked. "What do you know about Katerina?"

Cade paused before turning back around to face him. "Wasn't it just a day or two ago that you told the young Camille… All lives end. Everybody dies. You would do good in remembering Katerina's fate before making any rash decisions in life." He glanced again at the dead body before leaving.

* * *

Caroline sat on the floor next to Hope's crib, playing with her and her bunny, and making the little baby giggle with funny faces. She heard Klaus approaching, but didn't say anything until he sat down next to her on the floor and Hope's attention turned to her father.

"I can't imagine you as a dad," Caroline mused as he lifted the girl out of the crib and rested her in his lap instead. "Big change from the last ten centuries, huh?"

Klaus nodded. "Sometimes I forget just what my life was like before," he answered. There was a pause as he sighed. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

Caroline nodded, sadly. "Yeah, I am," she replied. "I feel shitty about leaving you in the middle of this prophecy, with the weapon out there, but… I have problems of my own, you know? Stefan's on the run and Bonnie-"

"I understand," Klaus told her. "You don't owe me anything."

Caroline took a deep breath, feeling guilty. "I can't stay here any longer without telling Stefan," she claimed. "It's not fair to lie to him. I need to go back."

Klaus paused, looking at his daughter instead of Caroline as he spoke. "Why lie to him in the first place?" He questioned, giving her an almost knowing look, but wanting her to say it anyway.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't believe my intentions were pure," she claimed, with a huff.

"And are they?" Klaus asked, smirking. Caroline just whacked his arm and scowled, but didn't answer. Klaus smiled at her and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "Take care of yourself, sweetheart," he requested.

* * *

 **AN: Don't worry. Caroline will be back by the end of next chapter. I think. Yeah, she will. Don't worry. But next chapter is primarily Kalijah/Markos focused.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW!-Izzy x**


	12. Chapter 11

**AN: Um okay so I was beta-ing this chapter, and I was like "you know what? this trash can't actually be salvaged." So yeah, this chapter sucks, but I think, two short, kinda crappy chapters in one evening is alright. A fair deal, you know? Whatever. Enjoy the update of Katherine/Markos. -** **Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven – The Originals 3x12**

 **December 27th  
New Delhi, India**

Fiora Petrova worked the bar every weekday evening. She knew exactly what she was, but pretending to be a human, working every evening, was in incredible way to avoid attention. She'd heard the stories about doppelgangers being used for sacrifices, or specifically brutal blood-letting. And after eight hundred years of vampirism, she's managed to avoid those particular problems. But it was time to be found. One night, at work, she attracted the attention of a beautiful blonde woman, who just kept ordering drinks from her.

"This one's on the house," Fiora told her, on her fifth cocktail.

"Are you buying me a drink?" The blonde asked, smirking. "And here I was thinking I was sat here, wasting my time, for nothing. I'm Rebekah Mikaelson."

* * *

The morning began to Elijah with a surprise visit from tall, Eastern European man, claiming to be the person, he and Nik had supposedly dropped to the bottom of the ocean.

"Katerina took my body with her when she left," Markos explained, accepting a drink from Elijah, very graciously, "and a week or two before you drowned Tristan, she made the switch to talk to me. I was tired of thinking I was Tristan, so I stayed in this body." He gestured proudly to the skin he was in, jokingly arrogant about it. "But we parted ways very soon afterwards."

Elijah nodded as he listened to the story, and poured himself another drink. "I have heard information about the danger she's in," he told Markos, trying to conceal his worry. "Is she… did she survive?"

Markos paused, putting his drink down on the counter before it could touch his lips. "I'm sorry, Elijah," he muttered. "I haven't spoken to her in weeks. I wouldn't know if she was alive or dead. I hope she's okay, but your guess is as good as mine. That being said: she is a survivor. And I would really doubt she got herself caught."

Elijah tapped his fingers and took a deep breath. He didn't know anything for sure. Not yet. He just needed to keep calm and find out something solid before concluding the story of Katherine Pierce.

"Katerina once explained to me her debt to you," he claimed, thinking back to when Katerina first explained who Markos was to her. How true she had been in that moment. "I never had any intention of keeping you under the sea forever. I planned on freeing you when I could."

Markos smirked and waved away the comment. "Thank you for your morality. But you won't need to save me, as it turns out."

"Indeed," Elijah mused. "Katherine did that for me."

Markos thought to himself for a moment, before smiling. "The debt to me," he mused. "Katerina is the mother of my child. That does create a sort of… alliance. Whether you want it to or not. We had a partnership. She owed me in the same way I owed her." He spoke of her very fondly, and with a glisten in his eye. He must have cared for her further than he was letting on. "But the two of you… you are something very different. You're in love. So much so that it ruled over you for five centuries. You are the definition of star-crossed lovers."

Elijah even managed to chuckle at this. "It has caused more heartbreak than one could imagine," Elijah claimed, thinking back to every time he wanted to be with her, but couldn't. He could not identify a numerical value to the sentiment, however.

"Trust me, I know the feeling," Markos claimed. "Eventually I would like to meet my daughter. And then I shall happily die. But for now, I need to focus on staying alive long enough for that to happen. Katerina has a plan. I don't know what, but she said we'll be free forever."

Elijah sure as hell hoped so.

"What do you know about Cade?" He asked Markos, thinking back to his encounter with the man. "Who is he?"

Markos shrugged. "He is exactly who he's claimed to be." When Elijah looked doubtful, Markos told him the story.

"He lived in a village, thousands of years ago," Markos told him. "He was born a psychic. He has many, many friends. He was a gentleman; kind to everyone. But, as a psychic, he could see into the minds of all his friends. It gave him empathy, but it also cost him his life. He scolded those who thought ill. He only wanted to help, but he overstepped. And fearing him, the men turned even his friends against him. They tied him to a stake, threw food at him, started trying to burn him. And Cade saw the thing inside men that his power was not able to define. True evil. He became triumphant in death. He created magic that would punish men in death for their wicked deeds. The place now interpreted by men as hell."

Elijah paused for a moment, drinking this in. "And he's coming for Katerina," he finished.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah showed Markos to the study in the compound and filled him in on the problems emerging in the French Quarter. "So a baby vampire carries the weapon, and you refuse to kill her because…?"

"Niklaus feels he owes her," Elijah explained.

Markos nodded, pacing around. "Okay, then what's the plan?"

Elijah looked up at the traveller, back in his original body and eager to help. "Why?" Elijah asked him, pulling something out of the desk. "You have no loyalty to my family or I, why insist on aiding us?"

Markos paused, looking confused as if the answer were obvious. "You mean a lot to Katerina," he explained with a slight shrug. "And after some thought, I've decided that she means a lot to me. Now, explain to me the plan."

Elijah nodded, thoughtfully. "Niklaus shall deal with Camille," he claimed. "In the meantime, I shall keep Aya distracted." He walked out of the room and Markos stopped him.

"And what's the reason behind not killing her?" He asked.

Elijah paused, turning back around. "She and I have history," he told Markos. "It's unimportant. Come along."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah and Markos followed Aya to a huge house a little while out of the city. They eavesdropped on the conversation for all of a few seconds before Elijah decided to intervene.

"My witches have made a discovery," Aya informed the group of vampires as she paced around the parlour. "Whatever it was, Elijah clearly wants it to remain hidden. We can only assume a weapon is in play and all our lives are at risk. We will not rest until that weapon is under our control."

Elijah stepped into view at that moment and grinned. "Hello, everyone," he greeted, looking around the room at the familiar faces. "Wonderful to see you all. This is Markos, a friend of mine. Aya!" He approached the vampire joyfully and spoke down to her. "Don't we look very comfortable indeed, leading Tristan's little circus? Unfortunately, one cannot simply ascend to the role of leader. There must be my consent." He touched her shoulders and she flinched. He moved on, simply. "You'll recall that I am the founder. I'm the one who chooses the leader." He looked around the group, confidently. "Fortunately for you, I have an excellent candidate in mind."

A few head perked up, and some people tried to speak, but they were cut off when Markos performed a spell to silence them.

"You see," Elijah mused, "today is the day I take back what's mine." He looked around the room as Markos lifted the spell and smirked. "Do I hear any objections? No? Well, my offer is simple enough. You follow me, and I will return you to greatness."

"You really just going to come in here and start making demands?" Marcel asked, doubtfully.

"Sh, sh, Marcel," Elijah interrupted. "The grown-ups are talking. Aya, how long has it been? Eight, nine hundred years since you saw this?" He revealed the thing he'd bought with him, a wooden ornament. "The charter of the Strix," Elijah announced, holding it up. He unravelled it skimmed it over. "Written by… oh yes. Me." His eyes flicked over the parchment as he read. "In the absence of a worthy leader, the role shall be returned to Elijah Mikaelson."

Aya stepped forward and smirked. "The unworthiness of the current leadership has yet to be decided," she claimed. "I know the rules. I helped you write them. And so, I challenge you to a duel. Do you accept?"

Only a few minutes later, the group were walking into Marcel's church, crowding around the wrestling ring as Aya and Elijah prepared themselves inside.

"We're the oldest society of vampires in the world," Marcel informed them, "and yet, we settle our disputes like kids on the playground after school."

"My thoughts exactly," Elijah replied. "Aya seems to disagree." He held his hand out to help her onto the ring, but she ignored him.

"I could order my brethren to fight on my behalf," Aya claimed, looking around the vampires. "Such as their loyalty. And you could get your little warlock to help out." She scowled at Markos. "But we both know this is between you and me. Leadership must be earned. And one way or another, I will have that charter."

Elijah just smirked and straightened his cuffs. "Come get it."

It seemed as though Elijah was winning in the battle for power. He had plenty of built-up anger that he unleashed upon Aya. They argued as they fought, but nobody paid them any attention until Marcel broke in there and stole the charter himself, claiming that if they did not find him before midnight, he was in charge.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Only three minutes to midnight left, before Elijah finally called Marcel. "Well, this little escapade has been very cute indeed," Elijah mused. "Why don't you come along? Give me the charter?"

Marcel sounded very amused on the other end of the line. "Hm… no. No, I'm fine right where I am. I got about three minutes until I'm the new grand pooper. Until then, good luck trying to find me."

Marcel hung up the phone and Elijah almost put his away when he received a text message from Markos. _I found Marcel. In the bayou, where you would meet Hayley._

Elijah nodded to himself and tucked his phone away back into his pocket. Using his vampire speed, he was there in an instant, to the little alcove between trees, a space for a picnic. A happy place. But he fell back a step with what he saw. Marcel wasn't there. Instead, there was the three people he least expected to see in one place.

Leaning against the back of a nearby car stood Cade, his arms crossed as he watched Aya, who was pacing back and forth with Markos's phone in her hand. And the Traveller was sat against a tree, looking calm, but sad.

"What is this?" Elijah asked, looking between the occupants of the bayou. "Where is Marcel?"

"I don't know," Aya claimed, ceasing in her stride to face her ex. Her hands rested behind her back as she spoke. "I didn't figure it out in time. So, considering this is my last few minutes as the leader of the Strix, I wanted to take care of one final act of business. A debt we owed to an ally." She gestured towards Cade, who stood up straight and faced Elijah.

"Arcadius," Elijah greeted, coldly. "What is happening?"

Cade didn't look cheery or optimistic anymore. He looked stone cold and aggressive. "A few months ago, two evil souls escaped my damnation," he explained, stepping a little closer towards Markos. "I'm here to take one back. I wanted you to bear witness, Mr Mikaelson, so you understand the severity of the situation before you."

Elijah blinked. He took a deep breath as he looked to Markos, who met his eye and even managed to smile. "You want me to know what you're going to do to Katerina," Elijah whispered. After little thought, he flashed towards Cade, but the Aya intercepted him and pushed him back. Elijah slammed Aya to the floor and ran at Cade, but the psychic stopped him. Elijah's skin began to sizzle, and he saw steam arising from his hands. His flesh was burning, melting like he'd been standing in the sun for too long. He heard a growl in his ear, like a gigantic hellhound was approaching him. He stopped in his tracks, falling behind in pain and crying out as loudly as possible, screaming in the agony.

And then, the pain was gone, as soon as it began.

"My magic cannot kill you," Cade claimed. "But as long as you behave, I'll spare you the torture. As the devil himself, I am quite skilled in that department, after all." He seemed perfectly at ease, unlike all witches who performed such a powerful spell. "I told you it would do you good not to underestimate me."

Elijah paused for a long moment before deciding to retreat, backing away from whom he finally believed in. Nobody could be so powerful. No witch or vampire, or werewolf. He looked towards Markos and tried to apologise without saying a word, but failed. Cade gestured towards the traveller, clearly giving Elijah the opportunity to speak to him.

So, Elijah knelt down in front of Markos and tried to offer a comforting smile. When that didn't work, he skipped straight to the matter they both cared about. Saving Katerina.

"Markos, what do I do?" He asked him, barely more than a whisper.

Markos just shook his head, clearly lost for words. There was nothing they _could_ do. "Don't be upset, Elijah," Markos pleaded. "These cowards aren't worth the emotion." The pair of men looked over to Cade, who grinned, and then to Aya, who hung her head in shame. "Tell Katerina," Markos begged, "she's done right. And if she ever brings back Nadia, then tell her, I never met her. But I love the bones of her." His voice caught then, and for the first time, he seemed to regret whatever it is he did, that had him sent to hell in the first place. When he spoke again, he could barely get the words out past a sob. "I'm proud to be a part of her."

Despite Marko's final demands, Elijah could feel himself getting emotional again. This man, the father of Katerina's child, had her on his mind in his final moments. He trusted Elijah with her in his dying wish. He respected this man more than he could possibly begin to explain. They were alike. Two souls in love with Katerina Petrova. And one of them was being dragged to hell.

"Step back," Aya ordered him. She looked apologetic already, but Elijah could only hate her. He did as she commanded, knowing he would be forced to do as he's told in this situation. He took a few steps backwards, but he could barely feel his legs. He was going numb.

"Turn around, Elijah," Markos told him. Not because it would pain Elijah too much to see Markos die, but because they were doing to him the same as they would do to Katerina, and he couldn't bear to watch that. "Turn around."

When Elijah was about ten feet away from the poor man, he did so, very slowly shifting, turning to face Cade instead. He heard Markos cry out as they stabbed him, and he flinched. They were going to do that to her…

He couldn't save Markos. He couldn't help him. He couldn't stop Cade, or even Aya. Katerina was going straight back to hell, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Then followed the slight explosion, and the roaring fire, taking Markos's body up in smoke. Elijah's breathing began to get ragged and uneven, and he couldn't remember ever feeling so helpless, so scared. And yet, he needed to hide that. He needed to put on his usual mask of confidence and authority to lead his siblings through their dark times. He was expected to always be strong, and always be brave, so they didn't have to.

Elijah hadn't even noticed that he was kneeling until Cade approached him, still smiling. He must have sank to his knees at the explosion, weighed down by the situation.

"You once asked me what I knew about Katherine Pierce," Cade mused as he looked down at Elijah. "I know that to her, you are just a little boy. Just like all the other little boys. And she has no need of you anymore. And you never had any need of her. She is a fox. Just like all the other foxes." Then he began to kneel down, facing Elijah at eye-level. "And even if you managed to tame her, you would not have needed each other. You would not have been unique to each other."

"That just shows how little you know," Elijah muttered, his throat dry.

"Perhaps," Cade answered, smirking. "But I do know this: Katerina Petrova was killed in Mystic Falls last night," he claimed, without filter or remorse.

Elijah felt as though the breath was sucked out of him. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, and he couldn't feel. Everything was numb. And that feeling left as soon as it came. It was replaced by burning. Like his veins were on fire. His muscles ached and he tried and failed to stifle a sob. "Oh, God no," he begged, his raggedy breathing showing clear through his words. His pain showing itself even clearer.

It hurt so bad that Elijah couldn't remember a time he wasn't in pain. He couldn't remember life without the ache, or without the burn, or with the ability to breathe. And when Cade turned away, Elijah screamed again, in a whole different kind of pain.

* * *

 **Christmas Night**

Rebekah's body hadn't been hard to find. Elijah had been too upset to try too hard, and so he'd put her into the nearest storage unit and called it a job done. But after he left, Rebekah got a little visitor.

Hands pulled the dagger from Rebekah's chest and then reached up to her temples. A voice softly began chanting. Then the visitor left a phone next to Rebekah's hand, and left. "Veet," said an unwelcome voice before following the visitor out.

As soon as Rebekah woke up, her eyes went black. She blinked once and they changed back to normal. The phone started ringing, and she answered it, beginning to get to her feet, unsteady on the new legs.

"Did it work?" Came the voice of Tristan de Martel.

"Of course it worked," Rebekah's voice answered, with an American accent. "I'm Katherine Pierce. Do my plans ever fail?"

* * *

"Caroline, are you sure about this?" Bonnie asked, worried. "You just got back."

"And realised I was stupid," Caroline added, his foot hitting the gas as she pelted down the highway. "I know what can save Stefan, Bonnie. I have to Try."

She heard Bonnie sigh on the other end of the line. "Where are you?"

"I just got on the 9-20," Caroline answered, steering with only one hand and holding up her phone with the other. "I'll call you when I get there."

"Care, you haven't even told me where you're going," Bonnie reminded her.

Caroline paused, sucking her teeth before sighing. "To New Orleans," she informed her, keeping her eyes determinedly on the horizon, speaking words she didn't ever think she would. "To visit my friend."

* * *

 **AN: Don't hate the player, hate the game.**

 **And FYI, next chapter is one of the most emotional chapters I've ever written. Will definitely be up over the weekend.**

 **Feel free to put that old review box to good use. With love, Izzy x**


	13. Chapter 12

**AN: Katherine's bodyswap is necessary and very temporary.**

 **Sorry in advance. I don't know where this went. -** **Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve – The Originals 3x13**

"Hey Rebekah," Freya said, anxiously into her phone. "Before you left, you told me to take care of our brothers, but… I'm in way over my head here. I need your help. It's Elijah. He's at the end of his rope, and I don't know what to do to help him. Katherine's dead. You're gone. Rebekah, I think… I think he's going to do something desperate."

* * *

 **12 Hours Earlier…**

"Klaus?!" Caroline called, walking into the compound and setting her suitcase down by the gate. "Klaus?!" It was late morning, and Caroline had just gotten off her flight and looking forward to a hopefully relaxing day. But as soon as she saw the Mikaelson's mini bar, she knew her hopes were a little too out-of-reach.

Elijah was sat in one of the stalls, his shirt untucked and the top few buttons undone. He was slumped over the counter, his head in his arms and his hands resting around a bottle of vodka, which was leaking onto the table. His hair was getting sticky with the alcohol. She'd only ever seen the older Mikaelson brother a handful of times, but he'd always seemed so collected and smart. Now, he looked like somebody broke him.

"Elijah," she called, worriedly, a little softer as she approached him. She craned her neck to try and see his face, but he didn't look up at her. "Hey, Elijah," she tried again, reaching her hand out to comfortingly rub his shoulder. Then he perked up and snatched her wrist, moving her hand off of him. He didn't use enough strength to hurt her, so she decided not to fight it. He glared at her, slightly confused, as if trying to put a name to her face.

"You left," he remembered after a moment.

"I came back," she replied, shrugging slightly.

Elijah got to his feet and studied her for a minute before grabbing his vodka and taking it into another room, scratching his stubble as he went. Half a second later, Klaus arrived in the courtyard, studying Caroline with a confused expression on his face. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

Caroline opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again after a moment of thought. She looked over to where Elijah had stalked off to. "What's up with your brother?" She asked.

Klaus followed her line of sight and then ventured into the room Elijah had slumped himself down in. Caroline watched as Klaus took the alcohol from him and inspected him, concerned. "Elijah what's up with you?" He asked.

Elijah looked at his brother, completely expressionless, as if deciding whether or not to reply to that. "I killed Rebekah," he admitted, seemingly unashamed as he spoke. Klaus's face fell and Caroline's eyes widened, neither of them expecting that. "The mark on her arm stayed, so I daggered her before she went insane."

The explanation caused some relief in Klaus and Caroline, and Klaus rolled his eyes. "Well, we'll have to find her another cure," he mused. "You should have told me, brother, that sounds like a very reasonable plan to me."

"I lost her," Elijah continued. "I put her body in a storage unit, and I went to visit her last night. But she wasn't there. She's missing. Now, I don't know if it was Aurora, the Strix, or Lucien, but I'm guessing she's at the bottom of the ocean by now, and I don't know where."

Klaus's face fell again. "You're not serious?" He asked. Elijah simply nodded and then there was a long, long pause. Caroline looked between the two brothers, and slowly took the alcohol out of the room, hoping to give the two of them a little space to talk. Although, it was a whole three minutes before one of them finally remembered how to use their voice.

"Niklaus," Elijah started.

"I'll talk," Klaus interrupted, in a voice to eerily calm it made Caroline's skin crawl to hear it.

She heard Elijah cough. "Okay," he agreed.

Klaus took a deep breath. "You, not only killed Rebekah, but you didn't tell me. Didn't let me keep her safe. You took so little care of her, that she is now gone. In the life that we're living right now, she'll probably be gone forever."

She heard Elijah shuffle, awkwardly. "She's my blood too."

"Not anymore," Klaus said, barely more than a whisper. "Since you have so little respect for your family, you're not a part of this one anymore. You don't need to stay here either. You can go. You won't be needing to call Freya or Hayley, where you're going."

"You don't know where I'm going," Elijah claimed.

He stormed out of the room, past Caroline, and out of the compound. He didn't bother cleaning himself up before leaving; he seemed quite happy to roam the streets as he was. He slammed the gate so hard it rattled on its hinges. Caroline watched him go, her eyes wide, and sad. When Klaus re-joined her, he forced a smile.

"Sorry you had to witness that, love," he said. "Let me have a drink first, and then I'll be right with you." He poured himself a scotch and Caroline decided not to speak. He added something though, a moment later. "Where have you been?"

"I," came a new voice, "have been out making sure the Strix and their witches are looking for Aurora." Some tall, handsome guy roamed into the compound, seemingly quite mad with Klaus. "Is that okay?"

"Marcel," scolded another new voice. A shorter blonde girl joined them from another room. "It's not Klaus's fault that Cami is waving the white oak around like a kite. And it's not his fault that Aurora made a deal with one of your witches."

"Aurora's back?" Caroline interrupted. "Wait, what did I miss?"

"Introductions, apparently," the man – Marcel – said.

"Oh, I'm Caroline," she said, beginning to smile as she held out a hand to shake his. "Marcel, was it? I'm an old friend of Klaus's. Hi." Marcel shook her hand and she extended it to the blonde girl, who also shook it. "Probably not as old as you guys, but that could just be me making a general assumption."

Klaus smirked "Marcel's an old honorary-Mikaelson from the 1700's, and Freya's my long lost big sister who suddenly became found a few months ago."

Caroline nodded, as if that were all up to speed. "Freya. Great name."

"Freya, for future reference, I'm quite capable of defending myself," Klaus chimed in, getting to his feet. "What I cannot do is cast a spell to find Aurora. In that respect, we're alike."

Freya looked murderous. "Aurora is cloaked," she said with a scowl. "Most likely by the witch she killed. I have been working non-stop every day-"

"Well you've certainly stopped now, haven't you?" He reminded her. "Go on then. On your way."

"Klaus," Caroline scolded. "If you don't play nice with witches they're gonna take their ball and go home."

Freya held up a hand to silence Caroline as she stepped up to Klaus. "Do you talk to our other sister this way?" She asked. Klaus's face fell at the mention of Rebekah, and only Caroline knew exactly why. "Didn't think so," Freya said, storming out of the room.

Caroline got to her feet in an attempt to ease the tension. "So we're looking for Aurora, who's cloaked, because she's got some white-oak and you drowned her brother. Have you tried the witch she's been working with?"

"She's dead," Marcel informed her. "She used to work for the Strix, but nobody can tell how Aurora got to her. Our coven had the same cloaking spell as Freya."

"Your coven?" Klaus asked. "You're quite comfortable with the Strix, aren't you?"

Marcel nodded. "Yeah, yeah I am. To help _you_." He made to storm out, but Klaus grabbed him by the shirt to stop him.

"You have any more news from your BFF's to tell us?" He asked.

Caroline jogged over. "Okay, so Marcel seems like a friend," she said. "So how about we channel that rage towards Aurora, hm?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes at Marcel before letting him go. "You're lucky I've got my babysitter today," he said, letting Marcel leave.

* * *

Elijah tried not to blink. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Markos, and the firelight. He saw Aya's face and Cade. So, he kept his eyes open, which only made him look angry and crazy as he stormed down the street. He pulled into the only bar in the city his brother didn't like. It was a little punk-rock for his taste, with bright yellow lights on every surface and band-posters up around the place, but he didn't notice. With the dishevelment of his suit, he could pass it off as ironic, and so he didn't seem entirely out-of-place. And it was almost entirely empty given the time of day.

He ordered himself a pint of beer and he could feel Gia laughing with him about it. No, he didn't like beer, but he'd spent the last twelve hours chugging the hard stuff, and he wanted to clear his head out a little bit. To clear it of everything.

But the thought of Gia made him smash the glass in his hand, and forced him to pick broken glass from his skin. He had been forced to watch Gia die. He hadn't cared enough when Kol died. He hadn't even known when Katherine died the first time, and he wasn't there for her when she died the second time. He killed Rebekah himself. He couldn't save Markos.

"Here," the bartender said, giving Elijah another drink. "On the house. You look like you could use it." She was young and pretty. Blonde with bright eyes and a big mouth. She had a thick New Yorker accent.

"Thanks," Elijah said, deciding that he was going to sleep with her. Not right then, but probably before the night was through.

When she moved out of the way, Elijah noticed the mirror behind the bar. He ignored his wild hair, his stubble, his untucked shirt with the top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up. Behind him, stood Finn, looking at him disappointedly.

His head whipped around and scanned the place behind him, but his brother was nowhere to be seen. Nobody was. It was all in his head. He downed his drink and rubbed his tired eyes, calling back over to the bartender. "Hey. Two more." If he kept going at this rate, then perhaps he could drink himself into a coma for a few hours. That would get his mind off of it all, right?

* * *

Klaus told Caroline he was going out to find Hayley, to recruit her help, and Caroline decided to stay at the compound to help Freya, but as soon as she went to check on the witch, her face fell. The room she had been performing the spell in was trashed. Furniture was sprawled across the room and pieces of paper baring spells were scattered everywhere.

Caroline called Klaus and almost cringed at his optimism on the other end of the line. "Can I assume my very gifted sister has finally located my crazy ex?" He asked.

She nudged a chair out of the way with her foot and walked up to the desk. "Actually," she replied, awkwardly. "I think your crazy ex found your sister. But it looked like she put up a good fight."

"Well then we'll procure another witch to track her," Klaus decided, making Caroline frown. Did witches grow on trees in Louisiana? In Mystic Falls they pretty much just had Bonnie. And if Bonnie didn't feel like helping, or if someone needed to track her then…. Well then, they were screwed.

"There's no need," Caroline said, picking up a piece of parchment from the table, lying next to a lavender flower and watch. "A clue."

"I'll be back in a moment," Klaus said and hung up. Caroline read over the neat handwriting in distaste.

 _A forest of Pine. And a boy made so fine. Come quickly. If not – then poor Freya shall rot. Buried in dirt for all time._

When Klaus arrived back, he took the poem from Caroline and read it aloud before pacing around the study anxiously. "The woman is insane," he deduced, putting the paper down and turning to Caroline. "I apologise for this, Caroline."

Caroline shrugged it off. "So, what? Now we're playing her twisted game? What did she do to your sister?"

"Freya saw a vision of herself buried alive," Klaus remembered, direly. "She'll do anything to bring about this bloody prophecy."

Caroline didn't even pause before grabbing her jacket. "Don't just stand there, Klaus, let's go!"

He grabbed the watch and followed Caroline out.

* * *

After a few hours, the bar began to fill up, and some rock band took the stage. The music was loud, and very drum-centric. Elijah hated it, but he'd drank so much one of the bartenders had to go out to buy more. They'd tried to cut him off but he'd compelled them to do otherwise. They did find it miraculous, however, that he wasn't on the floor yet.

The pretty blonde bartender, Kara, kept pouring him shots, which they took together over the counter, ignoring half of the music. "Slippery nipple?" She offered, nudging a shot towards him.

"Yes please," he replied, drunkenly, which made her laugh.

"Get your head out of the gutter," she ordered. "It's a shot. Or would you prefer bourbon?"

Elijah smirked. "Bourbon's my drink," he claimed, defensively. He downed both shots she offered and slapped his hand on the table. "Keep them coming," he demanded.

Kara did so, pouring shot after shot, and somehow it didn't go to Elijah's head. He'd been drunk before, of course he had. Why wasn't this bloody working? "Hey," she said, "you didn't give me a name."

He clicked his tongue, debating whether or not to give them a real name. But he couldn't think up a fake name on the spot, and giving her a sibling's name could become awkward for future endeavours. "Elijah," he told her.

"Ooh," she mused. "Sexy." She looked past him towards the corner of the bar, and scowled. "Is that your girlfriend?" Elijah followed her line of sight to some brunette women he's never seen before, with smudged eyeliner and messy hair. He shook his head and Kara smiled. "I think she wants to join us," she mused. "How about we take this party to her?"

Elijah shrugged, getting to his feet. "Wouldn't want to miss it."

* * *

Klaus held the watch in the palm of his hand as he walked through the forest. They neared a little metal shack not too far away and Caroline gestured towards it almost triumphantly. "That kind of smells like your sister," she said. "In the least creepiest way possible."

"Freya's not in there," Klaus informed her. "She was, I can smell her blood. But the stronger smell is West."

"Okay," Caroline nodded. "You follow the scent, and I'll look for clues in the cabin." She started up the hill towards the place but Klaus called after her. "Don't worry," she mused, turning around. She opened up her handbag and pulled out a water gun and a stake. "I got vervain, and I got a weapon. And with any luck, Aurora's going to die today."

She walked away from Klaus and opened the front door of the cabin, thankful that she could step over the threshold. It was run down and dirty, with piles of rope and old candle sticks lying around. She walked past a bunch of bookshelves and found some detailed pictures and diagrams of bullets, and one diagram of a little whittled chest piece.

She gathered up the pieces of paper and looked at one of the bullets and was about to leave when she heard a gun click behind her.

"Aurora," she greeted, turning around and bringing her own gun out of her bag, levelling it with Aurora. Of course, it was a bubblegum-pink water-gun, but the look on Aurora's face was priceless.

"Modern weaponry for the modern woman on one hand," Aurora mused, "and a child's toy on the other. Let me guess… vervain? Good luck with that, sweet Caroline. I think mine has better ammo. It's pretty, no?"

"It looks like the gun my Barbie Spy had when I was little," Caroline replied, with a shrug. "But then again, I can't really say much."

"Not for long, anyway," Aurora teased.

"How's your eye?" Caroline backfired.

"Perfectly able to see my target," Aurora returned with a smirk.

Caroline narrowed her eyes a second later. "Then what are we waiting for?" She asked, stepping forward. "Klaus?"

"I'm not here to kill Klaus," Aurora claimed, matching Caroline's step forward. "I'm only waiting for him to arrive, so he can watch you die."

Caroline paused, considering her actions before making circles around Aurora. "You think," she mused as she walked, "that I'm the reason you and Klaus aren't together?" She watched as Aurora started to look sad. "You remember that you're batshit crazy, right? You don't think that's got a little part to play in all of this? I suppose he's just able to distinguish the difference between real love and some petty desire."

"Real love?" Aurora asked, running forward and pressing the gun to Caroline's chest. "Like the love of family? My beloved brother, Tristan, suffers in a box. Drowning over, and over again – unable to die. This isn't jealousy! This is revenge!"

Just as she said that, the door burst open. Klaus walked across the threshold, supporting Freya who looked about ready to collapse. "Stop this!" He demanded, glaring at Aurora.

The red-head pushed Caroline away and turned to gun to Klaus. "The bullets are white-oak, Klaus," Caroline informed him.

"We both know," Klaus said, stepping forward and smiling at his ex, "that you're not going to pull the trigger."

"You're wrong," Aurora said. She shot at Caroline, but Freya did a spell to knock the bullet out of it's path. Aurora flashed away and the witch fell to the floor with the effort. Caroline ran to her side and Klaus headed to the door, saying something about needing to murder his ex.

* * *

As the music picked up, so did the party. Kara started screaming at every shot, which made Elijah laugh, even though it wasn't funny. The other girl… something beginning with an S? Sophie? Good enough… started offering body shots to Elijah, which he graciously excepted.

"I like this girl," Elijah said, his voice hitching slightly as he spoke.

"Mm which one?" Sophie asked, laughing.

"Both," he replied with a shrug.

"Let's dance!" Kara pleaded, jumping over the bar and pulling Elijah to his feet. In no way did he want to dance to this crappy music, but he relented and followed the women onto the dance floor, purely for the opportunity to get closer to them.

"Don't scream," he compelled them both before biting into their necks individually and drinking as much as he could without killing them. He must have drunk from everyone on the dance floor at least once as he worked his way through.

Eventually though, Kara took his hand and led him and Sophie away, to a room behind the bar. There was a big mirror on one wall, and the other three were covered in graffiti. There was a dirty looking worktop underneath the mirror. He made out angrily with Sophie against the worktop as Kara pulled something out of her pocket.

He didn't pay attention to Kara as he ripped Sophie's clothes off, throwing the tatters into a pile in the corner and ignoring them. She undid the buttons of his shirt, but he didn't pay that any attention either. He was too busy burying his fingers into her already wet folds.

It was only when he heard Kara snort that he saw the little lines of white powder on the table.

No, maybe the alcohol couldn't stop him from thinking about his problems. The blood definitely wouldn't, and after 1000 years, sex was simply a part of the routine. All of this was the usual. Nothing that could distract him, anyway.

But he hadn't done any hardcore drugs since the nineties.

He ran a hand through his hair and pushed Sophie away. Kara picked up where he left off and the two women made out with each other, removing clothes as fast as they could and soaking their fingers in each other.

Elijah ignored them and picked up the straw next to the lines. He took a deep breath, distancing himself from any rational thought, and snorted. Instantly his head started to feel a little clearer but a little busier at the same time. He took another before straightening up and looking straight in the mirror.

He didn't see himself.

He didn't even see a trace of himself left.

He was hidden behind the stubble and blood stains, and the powder on his nose and the smudged eyeliner on his cheek. But even in his eyes, he couldn't see anything behind the bloodshot red, and the tired bags.

But he did see Finn again, standing in the background and looking sad.

Elijah growled and his fist collided with the mirror, smashing it into pieces. The women jumped away from it, shrieking, and then laughed. "Big man," Kara praised, giggling.

"Get on your knees," Elijah ordered, in reply. The women did so and he undid his pants, pulling them down just far enough so that he could pull his cock out, stroking it slightly to make it harder than it already was.

Sophie didn't waste any time. She pushed it down the back of her throat and started bobbing her head back and forth, rolling her skilled tongue around the tip whenever she backed out. Kara sucked his balls, eagerly. When he came, they kissed to share the load, and he put himself away, doing up a random button in his shirt before bailing.

"Hey, you just gonna leave us here?" Sophie asked. He didn't reply, he just left.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah found Hayley at the church, where he was pretty sure he wasn't welcome. But he walked in anyway and she turned to face him. She was bleeding through her shirt, and she looked angry, but her face softened when she saw him.

"Elijah, hey," she said, standing up. Her face fell, however, when she saw what a mess he was. "You have blood around you mouth," she informed him. He stepped closer and ignored her. "And you reek like sex. And is that… Is that cocaine around your nose?" She sounded outraged and tried to wipe it off for him, but he pushed her hands away and wiped it off himself.

"Ignore it," he ordered. "Just leave it." He leaned down to kiss her neck, but she pushed him away. "Hayley-"

"Elijah, stop," she ordered, scowling. "What the hell is wrong with you? What exactly have you been taking? Just cocaine?"

"A long look at my actions and their consequences," he added with a shrug. "And a city-wide amount of alcohol."

Her eyes looked hard and angry. "Elijah, why are doing this? Are you okay?"

Elijah just shook his head, but he did smile. "I'm choosing you," he told her, leaning forward. "I've been trying to choose between you and Katherine, and I'm here because you're easy."

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't mean it like that," he said, quickly trying to undo his mistake. "To be with. Comfortable. Katherine's mean." He tried to kiss her again, but she shoved him so hard he fell against the wall behind him, and some of the plaster broke away.

"Let me get something straight here," she snarled, stepping up to him. "My husband died, and I'm still mourning. I'm not part of some stupid competition for your affections." She wiped some of the smudged eyeliner off of his cheek as she talked. "Especially since you can't even wipe the god damn cocaine from your nose. You have a niece now, Elijah. You're an uncle. Act like a _fucking_ adult." She spat the words out and glared at him, waiting for a reaction.

He rolled his eyes and pushed past her, heading towards the door. "Katherine's dead," he informed her, as he left. "You won by bloody default, anyway."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah watched from a distance as Aurora walked through a dark street of New Orleans. She opened the door to her car and pulled out her phone, but before she could find a number, Elijah flashed towards her and snapped her neck.

He searched her quickly for the gun which he slipped into his pocket.

* * *

He didn't even notice when night fell around him. Everything was dark anyway. But by the time the sky was black, he'd found himself outside of _her_ condo. The one she'd bought. The one they'd shared for only a few days. He took a deep breath and opened one of the front doors, leaning on the threshold before stepping inside.

She hadn't lived here for long enough to leave a big mark, but he could smell faint traces of her. On the bed where they'd made love. In the kitchen where they made love. In the bathroom where they'd made love.

They really had been busy.

He could have been stood there for seconds or hours, he wasn't really paying attention. But his head snapped around when someone knocked on the door.

Freya stood there with a small cardboard box and a soft smile on her face. "Klaus told me about the fight this morning. He didn't tell me why, but he said you weren't allowed to come back. I figured I would find you here."

Elijah narrowed his eyes at the cardboard box and then looked back at her.

"I bought some take out from your favourite restaurant," she said. "Usually they don't allow take-aways, but I was very convincing." She stepped into the kitchen and found some plates for them, setting some food out for him. "I thought we could talk about it," she added.

Elijah blinked and stepped forward and kissed Freya's cheek. "Thank you," he said. "I just… I need to grab…" He trailed off and walked into the bedroom. He closed the door and locked it, but it was probably unnecessary. He'd already had a witch come by and create a salt barrier that only he could cross.

He heard Freya's confusion on the other side of the door, but he ignored her. He pulled Aurora's gun out of his back pocket.

"Elijah?!" Freya asked, running to the door and banging on it desperately. "Elijah, what are you doing? Elijah?"

"I'm taking care of the Strix," he replied, his voice becoming croaky as he talked. His throat burned and stung as he spoke. He tried to take a deep breath, but his lungs just rattled. "Making everybody's lives a little bit easier."

"Elijah!" Freya exclaimed. "What does that mean?!"

Elijah turned to the full body mirror next to Katerina's window, and took a look at himself. He was still a mess, but his face glistened with tears he didn't remember coming. In his reflection, he saw Finn again, standing behind him with his arms crossed. He didn't smash the mirror again, instead he spoke to him. "Are you going to follow me for the rest of my life? That shouldn't last for long."

"Elijah?" He heard Freya at the door. "Open up. Talk to me! Please!"

"I'm so…" Elijah mused, looking at Finn in the mirror, "pissed. How pissed were you when you decided to kill yourself, Finn?"

"That was a sacrifice for the greater good," Finn informed him. "This is not the same."

Elijah growled. "This is the same. The Strix are ruining my family's life. Well, what's left of them, anyway. If I die… then they die too." He listened as Freya tried to break the door down, so Elijah turned his attention to her for a minute. "What about you, Freya? How much did you have to drink before killing yourself?"

There was a long pause at the door before Freya finally answered. "I was in a lot of pain," she replied. "And I was trying to save my unborn child from a fate worse than death."

On the outside of the door, Freya had given up on Elijah and pulled out her phone, a list already forming in her head of people to call. She started with Rebekah first, knowing that she was probably somewhere on the other side of the planet, searching for a way to bring back Kol, but she could call Elijah, right?

Rebekah didn't answer, so Freya left a message. "Hey Rebekah," Freya said, anxiously into her phone. "Before you left, you told me to take care of our brothers, but… I'm in way over my head here. I need your help. It's Elijah. He's at the end of his rope, and I don't know what to do to help him. Katherine's dead. You're gone. Rebekah, I think… I think he's going to do something desperate."

She hung up and called Klaus, who also didn't pick up the phone. She grumbled to herself and called him again. He definitely was not busy. He had no right to neglect his phone. The second time she rang.

"What is it?" Klaus demanded, bitterly. "I'm a little busy, Freya, so this better be important.

"Klaus, I think you need to get worried about Elijah," she said, quickly and urgently. "Really quick. We have a crisis over here."

She could feel Klaus roll his eyes on the other end of the phone. "I've made it perfectly clear that Elijah is not my concern. I already dealt with a crisis today. One that Elijah so kindly neglected. Whatever's happening to him – he deserves it."

Freya guessed that he was about to hang up, so she yelled quickly. "He's got Aurora's gun, Klaus! And he's planning on using it."

There was a short pause, which they really didn't have time for, before Klaus replied. "You… you don't mean…"

"Yes! I do," Freya said. "He doesn't just blame himself for Rebekah, he blames himself for Kol, and Katherine too. I need your help Klaus, I can't do this by myself."

"Okay," Klaus said, soothingly. "Tell him to pick up his phone."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Caroline had Hope sat on her lap as she sat on the floor between couches in the compound. Klaus was making them a couple cups of tea so they could finally relax, and talk properly. Aurora had ended up shooting Klaus before running away as fast as possible. Caroline had got the bullet back before it reached his heart, which bought back old memories for the pair of them.

"Are you and Elijah going to be alright?" Caroline asked him as she accepted her tea.

Klaus scowled. "Not for centuries, if I'm lucky. But I will find Rebekah and undo is mistakes."

"He's your brother," Caroline reminded him. "Right?"

He rolled his eyes and sat next to her, taking Hope and sitting his daughter in his own lap. "When your friends in Mystic Falls first met Elijah, he'd just been spending a century and a half trying to kill me. Our alliance is new, and currently broken. It should be decades by the time we make up. But speaking of your friends, what did you come here for?"

His phone rang and he checked the Caller ID before ignoring it.

Caroline took a sip before setting her mug down on the coffee table. "Stefan's being chased by someone none of us can kill," she informed him. "I was hoping that you can take a shot at it."

Klaus nodded. "Lead them here, and I'll take care of it."

"Yeah, Stefan's on his way," she said.

His phone rang again, and he scowled before answering it. He gave Hope to Caroline and got up to excuse himself. Caroline played with the baby until he came back, looking dire.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I think…" Klaus mused, as he searched through his contacts. "Katherine's dead. Rebekah's dead. And Elijah's about to off himself too."

Caroline's face fell and she got to her feet. "Oh my god, Fiora."

Klaus blinked. "No. _Elijah_."

"No! Fiora! I'm so stupid," Caroline said, handing his daughter to him and taking the phone. "I can't believe I didn't tell him. Trust me, Klaus, I know what to say."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah heard his phone ring and saw Klaus's Caller ID. He heard Freya outside the door, begging him to pick up the phone. He was sat on the edge of the bed, tapping the end of the gun to his chin. On the very last ring, he answered, still unsure of that decision.

Caroline Forbes spoke quickly and clearly, without wasting a second of time. "Whatever desperate move you're about to make, I need you to stop, and I need you to listen to me, because this is about Katherine."

Caroline waited for a signal that he was listening. Elijah tried to speak straight away, but he choked. His mouth didn't work with him anymore, and it took him a few seconds to spit out the words. "What about her?"

"She was in Mystic Falls a number of weeks ago," she explained, hurriedly. "She was just passing through, but I let her stay with me for a night. She was doing research on somebody named Fiora Petrova. A doppelganger. An eight-hundred-year-old vampire. I think she was planning on faking her own death."

Elijah paused, breathing deeply and refusing to believe her. "You're… you're lying."

"I'm not," Caroline promised. "I give you my word. I know how much that means to you. But I took a copy of her research anyway, because I knew this story wasn't over, and I may well need it. I can show you. I can _show_ you. Please. I know it's not much, but it's hope."

Elijah bit his cheek and lowered the gun, nodding softly to himself. There was a long pause before he spoke, choking out a thank you.

"We're going to figure out what really happened, Elijah," Caroline promised him on the other end of the line. She sounded genuine and kind, and even though Elijah didn't know her, she made him want to. "You and me, okay? We can figure this out."

* * *

When Elijah returned to the compound, everyone had left. Caroline had taken Hope somewhere safe with her mother; Freya had left Elijah to go in on his own. It was just him and his brother.

Klaus didn't say anything, and neither did Elijah. But his younger brother did hand him a cup of tea and they sat down together. After about sixty seconds of pure silence, Klaus reached over and took Elijah's hand, comfortingly. Elijah didn't stop him, or pull away. He excepted the gesture, and they remained like that for a little while, enjoying reconciliation without words.

* * *

 **AN: Again, I'm sorry. I am but a simple instrument to the muse.**

 **Let me know what you think. -** **Izzy x**


	14. Chapter 13

**AN: I'm tying up a couple of loose ends with this chapter, and explaining a few things that need to be explained. It felt very satisfying. Thanks for all the positive reviews! And for over a hundred followers! Ahh I love you guys** **-** **Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen – The Originals 3x14**

"I can try a locator spell, but Rebekah's probably cloaked," Freya said, trying to hide her anger in this situation. She knew very well that it hurt Elijah more than it hurt her, but the stress just seemed to be piling on.

"We could divide and conquer," Caroline suggested, sitting up straight. "Aya, Aurora and Lucien, the only people who would have taken her. We just need to split up, interrogate them all separately. We can offer Aurora her brother, Aya her leadership and Lucien… I don't know him."

"That's not entirely a bad plan," Elijah said, with an approving nod. He'd showered, shaved and sobered up, and was now back into his pristine suits. And all day, he hadn't been seen with a drink in his hand.

Caroline shrugged, proudly. "On the even brighter side, the family part of the prophecy is fulfilled. Now we just need to watch out for friends and foes. I realise that I am a friend but-"

"But since you came to New Orleans, you have saved both of my brothers' lives," Freya chimed in with a fond look. "I think we can trust you. However, you do have a lot of foes. Thankfully not many friends."

As if on cue, Klaus joined them, followed by someone very special. "Freya," Klaus grinned. "This is Stefan Salvatore – an old friend." He gestured to Stefan and grinned. "One of my trickle-down sirelings. Long story. Stefan, this is Freya. My brand new older sister. Also, a long story."

"Stefan!" Caroline exclaimed. She perked up at the sight of him and ran into his arms, kissing his quickly. "I missed you."

Stefan grinned at the sight of her and kissed her back. "I missed you, too," he told her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Also Caroline's boyfriend," Klaus added, as an afterthought, knowing full well that their relationship didn't really matter. "Anyway, he needs a favour."

Freya's eyes narrowed at the sight of Stefan, clearly mistrusting him instantly. "You're an old friend," she spat, sharply, "are you?"

Stefan paused, letting go of Caroline awkwardly. "Well that kind of depends on your definition," he told her.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah and Caroline had completely taken over the study of the house, covering tables and chairs with maps and pictures, and a few diagrams. Fiora Petrova was under their microscope. They followed Katherine's leads, but couldn't find any trace of her after New Year's Eve, when she was passing through Mystic Falls. Elijah had told Caroline about Markos and Cade, purely for the purpose of expanding their investigation, and remaining on the same page.

They retreated to their little headquarters as Freya took Stefan into another room to examine his wound. He'd arrived the evening before and him and Klaus had shared a drink and quick reconcile before Rayna found them. Klaus had killed her easily, but she quickly resurrected.

"Niklaus has encountered the huntress before," Elijah mused, thoughtfully, as he collected some contact details from employees at a bar in New Delhi – one that Fiora supposedly worked at. "He wouldn't be helping Stefan right now, if you hadn't asked. She is quite dangerous, as far as I'm aware."

"Tell me about it," Caroline said with a huff. "She ran my boyfriend out of town."

"I wasn't aware of your relationship with you younger Salvatore brother," he said, without looking up at her. "I wouldn't flaunt it in front of mine, however, if I were you."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Please, Klaus and I are friends," she claimed, almost smugly, and quite amused. When Elijah didn't reply, she looked awkward. "Right? I thought Klaus fancied that Camille girl."

Now Elijah rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, looking up at her with an exasperated expression. "Caroline, dear, his stalker kidnapped you to hurt him, and it worked. Klaus is now dealing with Rayna for you. I think it's safe to make an assumption."

Caroline blinked, looking lost. "He still likes me," she mused. "But he hasn't asked me on a date or gave me a gift, or told me how beautiful I am since I got here. It's not the same as Mystic Falls."

"Well perhaps his feelings aren't quite as they were," Elijah said, "and they are not as obsessive. He's not trying to impress you anymore, but rather, sink to the same page as you. But his feelings are still there."

Before she could reply, they stopped in their tracks at a new voice, which rang through the compound at a high volume.

"Hello?" The doppelganger called. "Anybody home?"

Elijah and Caroline exchanged a look of doubt and shock. "No," Caroline whispered. "No damn way."

The pair of them jogged out of the room and leaned over a nearby balcony that overlooked the courtyard. Katherine Pierce was strolling in, looking quite casual and comfortable, as if nothing had happened since she left. "I'm back," she mused. She looked up as Klaus, Freya and Stefan made it to the balcony to see her. "When did Barbie and Ken get here?" She asked. "Clearly I've missed a lot."

"Yes, indeed you have," Klaus growled, jumping off the balcony and flashing to her. "What the hell happened to you?!"

"I got my hair done while I was away," she answered with a smirk. "Thank you for noticing."

"You were dead," Freya snapped, following Klaus into the courtyard, but deciding to take the stairs. "You left that letter for Elijah. You had him chasing you around like a cat and a mouse. What the hell are you thinking, just showing up here?"

Katherine's face fell into slight concern. Caroline turned to Elijah, who just looked to be in some state of shock at the sight of her.

"What do you mean?" Katherine asked. She turned to Elijah. "I didn't die. What happened while I was away?"

The rest of the group dispersed so that Elijah and Katherine could talk properly.

"So," Katherine mused, sitting herself down in one of the couches and watching him. "Why did you think I was dead? Was it just my letter? To be honest, I wasn't even sure you got that. I paid a human to leave it for you. Talk about unreliable, huh?"

Elijah scowled, clearly fuming. Whether it was at her, or at the situation, she doubted even he knew. "Markos returned to the city," he informed her, keeping his voice steady. "He explained to me who _Cade_ was. And then I met him."

Katherine paused, sucking her teeth for a moment. "Markos told me he was going back into hiding," she said, beginning to get mad herself, at Markos. "If I knew he was going to lead Cade back here, then I would have told you who he was. But I didn't think he was going to be stupid enough to come here. Where is he? I'd like to kick his ass myself."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Cade seemed to believe you were dead," he told her. "Him, and the letter you left for me, seemed like a reliable source. That, and the fact that he found and killed Markos."

Katherine's face fell and she sat up. "Markos is dead?" She clarified, noticeably upset by this. "I told him to go into hiding."

"Well, he failed, and now he's dead and I thought you were too," Elijah said, snappily. "So please explain to me, why I was lead to believe that, Katherine."

She rolled her eyes and got to her feet, trying to level with him. "I faked my death to trick Cade," she replied, with an angry, exaggerated shrug. "Obviously. It worked like a charm, and he stopped looking for me. But since I wasn't expecting Markos to come here, I didn't expect Cade to follow and share the news."

"And you're letter?" He asked. "How was I supposed to believe you were alive after that?"

She paused, taking a deep breath and shrugging. "After I left the city, I had an epiphany. I was literally up against the devil, and all of his bitches. I had just lied to you about how I feel about you. I wanted the chance to tell you the truth, in case I couldn't explain it all later."

There was a moment before Elijah reacted to that, and he simply nodded, unable to fault her on that half. "And how exactly did you fake your own death?" He asked. "Miss Forbes informed me of Fiora Petrova, the hidden doppelganger. I assume you used her. But Cade is psychic. He wouldn't have made that mistake."

"Fiora was an interesting case," Katherine claimed, tapping her foot. "As far as I know, her family – my ancestors – were travellors too. And they tried to use her for a spell. Naturally, it involved a sacrifice, and like me, she ran. She met vampires, wolves, witches, and learned all about what she was. She went into hiding to avoid this kind of supernatural drama. She became a vampire after that and lived a happy, drama-free life for eight hundred years. She was the first doppelganger I met, in 1554. Then I killed her to save myself." Katherine blinked, hiding a sheepish expression. "As for Cade… I compelled her to believe she was me, so when Cade entered her mind, he saw nothing of Fiora."

Elijah's face fell in confusion. "You can't compel vampires," he reminded her. "You can't even compel people. You're human. You're… a traveller. Katherine, please tell me it's not what I think."

She shot him an innocent smile. "Don't worry. Rebekah is exactly where you left her. I wasn't going to keep her forever, and she's perfectly sa-"

"YOU POSSESSED MY SISTER?"

Katherine flinched at his raised voice. "Calm down," she pleaded, rolling her eyes in frustration. "She's fine."

"Since you're so full of excuses this morning," he growled, "what excuse is there for you to possess Rebekah?"

She blinked. "Um, my excuse is that I needed to?" She suggested, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling. "And don't you even try to tell me that you would have helped, or compelled Fiora for me, because you would have just been mad that I led Cade to the city with your niece in it, if I'd explained things to you. And by the way, that's the whole reason I left in the first place, to protect your damn Hope. You're welcome?"

Elijah opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him.

"Look, I know it was a shitty move, but it needed to be done," she exclaimed. "But on the even brighter side, I managed to get poor Bekah a thank-you present, for letting me use the old model." She reached into her handbag and pulled out a collection of papers, shoving them into his hand and refusing to discard her scowl. "A spell to siphon her curse. Again – you're welcome."

* * *

Only a few minutes later, Aurora was found by the Crescent Wolves. Hayley called Elijah, and he and Klaus set off to find them. Caroline came along, eager to help in reward for them helping Stefan. The lead led them to some sort of trailer park, eerie in the night, with fog roaming around their ankles. They found a car nearby, with Aya and other members of the Strix piling Aurora into the trunk.

"Hello, gentlemen," Aya said, stepping forward. Then she turned to Caroline and narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Caroline," she answered, waving. "Nice to meet you, too."

"Aya!" Klaus greeted. "I was planning on taking a different head tonight, but yours will do just fine."

"Good luck with that," Aya mused.

A couple of witches came out from the shadows behind her, their hands raised and a spell being chanted. Elijah and Klaus fell to the floor and Caroline flashed forward to kill them, but Aya stopped her by snapping her neck.

* * *

Back at the compound, Hayley had bought Lucien to help them, and called Marcel over to explain the actions taken by the Strix. "I had no idea Aya was going to take both the Mikaelsons down," he exclaimed. "Regardless, why are we trusting this guy all of a sudden?" He gestured to Lucien, who was draining a blood bag dry. "He's the one who ran off with Aurora the first chance he got."

Lucien dropped the blood bag and looked up to him. "You can hardly fault a man for following his heart," he claimed, defensively. "But the moment she started rambling on about killing Klaus, well – words were said; hearts were broken; veins were drained."

"You're one to talk about trust," Hayley snapped, turning to Marcel. "Who was it that handed my dead husband's heart over to the people that murdered him?"

"I missed so much," Katherine said with a pout from the couch.

"I bought your life with that heart," Marcel reminded her, ignoring Katherine. "But hey, you called me here. So if you have another plan, then please. Let's hear it."

"It's simple," Hayley exclaimed. "We storm the coven house and stop the Strix from performing the de-siring spell. Period."

Marcel stepped forward, angrily. "Well that's easy for you to say," he claimed. "You're not sired by anyone, are you?"

"It's not just about the spell," Lucien perked up. "We have to stop an execution."

Marcel looked confused and stepped forward. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"A lovesick teenager is somehow going to break the sire-link?" Lucien asked, sarcastically. "Sorry, but your darling Davina is in over her head, and Aya knows this. She will allow Davina to perform the spell and then test it by firing a white-oak-bullet into Klaus's heart. And it's win-win for her. If you die Marcel, then she's won. If not, then at least she's eliminated the rival sireline."

Hayley shuffled on her feet, looking awkward. "Alexis did see Klaus die," she reminded them. "And if Klaus dies, then the two of you die as well."

"Actually," came a new voice, "make that the three of us."

Katherine got to her feet and allowed her face to fall at the sight of her ex. "Stefan," she said with a smile.

"Katherine," Stefan returned with a nod. "I'm assuming you, of all people, have a plan?"

She sat up and nodded, smiling slightly at the opportunity to be useful. She pulled a floorplan of the Strix's venue from her bag and pencil to make adjustments. "A few," she told them. "Everyone, this is Stefan Salvatore. One-hundred and fifty years old. Sired to Klaus." Introductions were brief and to the point considering the work they needed to get done. Katherine, Lucien and Stefan gathered around the map and discussed. "We could use the access tunnels to slip into a backroom."

Lucien grunted in distaste.

"What?" Stefan asked. "Afraid to get mud on your expensive shoes?"

"Actually I'll be doing most of the heavy lifting since the vampires we're facing are… what? Seven times your age?" Lucien retorted, condescendingly. "Is this really the best help we could get? Two toddler vampires, one baby hybrid, and Katherine, someone who used to be a very powerful bitch, but is now just a helpless human."

Katherine scowled and leaned forward on her elbows. "In the last few months alone, I escaped hell, tricked the literal devil, possessed an Original, and found a spell which nobody else could find. Call me helpless again. I dare you."

Marcel walked back over to the group, hanging up his phone. "It doesn't matter," he informed them. "We're not getting their bodies back. Strix from all over the world are flying in to make sure this spell goes off. They're guarding every entrance and exit."

Lucien looked bewildered. "Well you're their leader," he reminded Marcel. "Call a meeting. Schedule a retreat. Order them to stop."

"He can't do that," Katherine interrupted. "Jesus, Lucien, you may have age on your side, but you are the thickest body here. If Marcel calls them off, then they all know where his loyalties lie, and his power will be taken away from him."

"Marvellous," Lucien said. "I guess it's on me to come up with our grand plan, then?"

"No, no," Katherine said. "Last time you tried to think, you said something dumb."

Before he could retort, Hayley and Freya re-joined them. "Luckily," Hayley mused, "Freya figured out a way to get the boys out of there. She just needs a strong enough power source."

"I would channel Finn," Freya added, crossing her arms, "but he's all for letting our brothers perish. So, I'll channel Lucien." She turned to the aforementioned and smirked at his look of discomfort. "The older the vampire, the better the battery."

"You're going to buy some time to keep the Strix occupied," Hayley explained, looking around for objections. There were none.

"So you want me here, holding hands with the leftover sister," Lucien spat, "while you take the two toddlers and tackle the Strix?" He laughed at the idea. "You must be joking-"

Freya lifted her hand and snapped his neck, interrupting him. He fell to the couch in a heap, and Stefan looked very impressed. "That was cool," he said, admiringly.

"I work better with quiet," Freya claimed, with a proud smirk.

"So, wait," Marcel said. "The plan is that the four of us," he gestured to himself, Hayley, Stefan and Katherine, "are going to keep a hundred of the world's oldest vampires occupied?"

"The three of you," Katherine corrected. "While you play the distraction, I'm playing extraction."

* * *

When Caroline woke up, she didn't move. She didn't even breathe. She lay completely still and examined the situation she was in without even opening her eyes. She heard to voices, Marcel and Davina, and a couple more heartbeats, and the slight flow of water.

Davina spoke clearly and confidently, and although she couldn't see her, Caroline had a feeling she was smiling. "I'm ready."

"Are you sure?" Marcel asked, clearly concerned. "You can take your time, D."

Before the little witch replied, a collection of footsteps entered the room and Aya spoke. "If she's ready, she's ready," she said, surely. Her voice quietened however, when she continued. "We have waited long enough for this."

Caroline understood almost immediately what must have been happening. It must have been the de-siring spell.

Caroline tried not to cringe as she heard something squelch behind her. "The un-sired heart will bind the ancestor's magic to these waters," Davina explained. "Once the water's fully charged with Mikaelson blood, I can break the sire link." There was then a loud splash.

The vampires were too powerful for Caroline to even begin fighting. Going for them was a dangerous move. But if she could surprise them, jump up and knock Davina out, then maybe she could stop the spell. Of course, Aya would try to kill her, but maybe Marcel could order her to stand down? At least to give her a head start on running?

Crap. She should have made her move before the vampires arrived. Maybe when the spell actually began they would leave again?

She decided to wait until the very last minute to make her move, just in case the situation got better. Plus, it would give them a false sense of security.

-0-0-0-0-0-

When Caroline heard chanting, a blade slicing along skin was short to follow. It was then that she jumped to her feet and flashed towards Davina. She was a blonde blur, moving to quickly and suddenly for any of the vampires to react. She pounced on Davina and slammed her head into the stone floor, knocking her out. She knew it would be better to kill her, but that would mean waging a war on Marcel and his guys, and she didn't want that.

Instead, she snapped the necks of the two closest witches for good measure.

The chanting ceased and Aya sped towards Caroline, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the nearby wall. "How dare you," she started. "You…" She trailed off and clutched her throat. She let Caroline drop and the vampires turned to face them, but the witches continued chanting.

Elijah's throat was cut right open and blood was pouring from her quickly. Caroline looked, around, confused, but when Katherine Pierce walked in to join them, she understood. Of course, she had a plan.

"I've never really practised magic before," she claimed, "but it took about an hour for Freya to teach me a linking spell." She pulled a stake out of nowhere, and hit the nearest vampire bodyguard to her. All the other vampires in the room turned grey, their veins becoming visible. Then they fell to the floor dead. Only Marcel and a handful of witches were left.

The coven was clearly struggling with the loss of Davina, and two of their other members. Their noses and eyes were bleeding, even their ears. Caroline flashed around them, banging head and snapping necks until the chanting ceased.

"Get them out of the water," Marcel ordered. He bent down and scooped up Davina. "More vampires will be here in a second, so move fast. Freya's going to wake them up."

Caroline grabbed a fistful of Klaus's shirt and pulled him out of the water in one swift movement, laying him down on the ground next to it. Katherine tried to do the same with Elijah, but struggled to get him very far with her pathetic human strength. Caroline had to help.

When the pair of them healed, and woke up only seconds later, they were panicked. The sat up and instantly tried to kill the people closest to them, but after a couple soothing words from the women, they relented and simply panted in shock.

"What happened here?" Elijah demanded, looking around the assortment of dead witches and vampires.

Caroline exchanged a look with Katherine before answering. "We kicked ass," she replied with a shrug. "What else?"

Klaus still looked unnerved and worried. "I felt them," he whispered. "I felt them leave." He looked between the three faces watching him and explained. "My sireline is broken."

* * *

The got back to the compound early in the morning, and Caroline went straight into Stefan's arms, kissing him on the cheek. He sighed in relief at the sight of her and held her close. He must have been worried.

"Hey, Caroline," Katherine mused, calling her back as Stefan went to go and find the spare bedroom. "I have a spare room at my place, if you don't want to intrude on the Mikaelsons."

Caroline smiled at the hospitality. "We're not staying," she told her. "We're heading back to Mystic Falls, where we're needed. Good luck with Elijah, though."

She wished everyone else a good night before following Stefan upstairs to the spare bedroom of the compound, and falling asleep almost instantly in his arms, grateful for the rest after a very long day.

It felt as though she had just fallen asleep when she woke up again. Stefan was hurriedly shaking her shoulder between throwing things into a suitcase by the door. "Care, come on," he whispered as he did so. "Come on, we have to go."

"Why?" She asked, sitting up and looking around, afraid. She couldn't hear anybody else in the house stirring or doing anything but sleep. "Did something happen back home?" She asked, jumping to her feet.

Stefan looked confused for a moment before continuing. "No, I just want to get there," he told her, pulling the handle of his suitcase up and gesturing to the door. "Come on. The first flight home leaves in two hours."

Caroline blinked, and sat back on the bed. "I'm not leaving yet, Stefan," she told him, shaking her head. "I want to make sure everything's okay here before we go."

He just rolled his eyes at her. "The first time you got to New Orleans, you were kidnapped. The second time you got here, what happened? Oh that's right: you got kidnapped again! And almost killed."

"Yeah, _almost_ ," she agreed. "But I can take care of myself. I saved Klaus tonight. That felt good. And I want to make sure he doesn't need me anymore." She scowled slightly as she spoke. "We're in no rush, Stefan. We're fine."

"No, we're not," he argued. "While you're in New Orleans, and while Klaus is on love with you, you're going to be in danger. I'm not going to let that happen."

Now she rolled her eyes. "Ooh, what are you going to do? Drag me home and keep me prisoner?"

Stefan flashed forward and snapped her neck, knocking her out. "Yeah," he answered. "If I have to."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Caroline woke up in an almost-empty airport, sitting in one of the seats. Stefan was next to her, flicking through one of the magazines. She rubbed her neck as she shot to her feet, turning around to glare at him.

"Oh good," he said, standing up with her. "You're up."

She seethed. "Did you seriously snap my neck?!" She demanded. He nodded and her scowl deepened. "Is this a hostage situation?!" She exclaimed, furiously. "I'm your girlfriend, Stefan. You don't kidnap your girlfriend. You talk to her like a rational adult."

"Be mad all you want," he told her, condescendingly, "but here's your boarding pass." He handed her a large ticket and threw it over her shoulder without even reading it. "Caroline, you're going to need that when we get on the plane. Which will be soon, hopefully. Before any of Klaus's enemies or siblings find us and drag us back."

"Us?" She demanded. "I'm sorry, where's the _us_? All I see is you! Your decisions, your plane tickets, your wants, your needs, and then there's me. _Your_ little girlfriend, who you decided to kidnap against her will, going all caveman on me. This is not you. You usually respect people's choices."

He shrugged, innocently. "Yeah, until it comes to life and death. And then it's not up for discussion."

"There's always a choice," she insisted. "You gave Elena that choice."

"And then I lost her," Stefan exclaimed. They were beginning to get odd looks from nearby travellers, but they ignored them in favour of the discussion. "Elena asked me to rescue her friend from the bottom of the river, and she _died_. Because I respected her damn choice."

Caroline paused, looking awkward, and remembering something she heard Katherine say once, when she wasn't supposed to be eavesdropping. That Stefan would never look at anyone the same way that he looked at Elena.

"Well, maybe one day, you'll wake up and realise that I deserve the same respect she did," Caroline said. She shifted uncomfortably. "But you know what? I think I'm done waiting. So if you come to your senses, then call me. But until then, I'm staying in New Orleans."

She made to walk past him, but he stopped her. "You already knew that, didn't you?" He accused, angrily. "Hell, when you were driving here, you knew that. You never came here for me, or you would be leaving here with me. You came here for _him_."

Caroline paused for a short while before answering him. "I'm not leaving with you because you're forcing me," she corrected. "But if you want to blame somebody aside from yourself, then blame me. Because I want free will? What a bitch I am."

-0-0-0-0-0-

The residents of the compound found themselves awake particularly early the next morning, gathered around in the living area. Elijah had made a pot of tea and sat on one of the armchairs, Hayley and Klaus were sat on the floor with their daughter, and Katherine and Freya were on the couch, looking over the spell that would supposedly heal Rebekah.

"This is a very complex spell," Freya mused, aloud. "I won't be able to do it on my own." She looked up to Katherine and smiled. "Which means that you're a prime candidate for more magic lessons, if you're willing."

She nodded, reading through the spell herself. "Since I'm not getting vampirism back anytime soon, why not? It would be nice to have some power."

"Well, having another witch around the house is always useful," Klaus approved with a slight smirk. "Speaking of playing house, have the two of you made up, yet?" He gestured between Elijah and Katherine, until his brother replied.

"Nope," he answered, simply.

"Well, I for one," Hayley chimed in, helpfully, "think Katherine's wrong-doings are kinda balanced out by this," she pointed to the spell, "and the fact that she saved your asses last night."

"Thanks Hayley," Katherine said, almost sarcastically. "You always have my back."

Before Elijah could add anything, they turned their heads to Caroline, who walked back through the gates, and looked around the group, taking a nervous breath. "Um," she said. "Stefan and I kind of broke up, and I'm staying."

They all checked Klaus, for his reaction, but he just looked shocked and concerned for the blonde.

"Caroline, my offer still stands," Katherine said.

Caroline nodded and opened her clenched fist, letting Katherine's keys dangle from her middle finger. "Yeah, I already got your keys from your bag," she told her. "But I'd quite like to get settled in, and I need your invitation."

Katherine nodded, getting to her feet and following Caroline out.

* * *

 **AN: There we go. Hours to write, seconds to review** **. -** **Izzy x**


	15. Chapter 14

**AN: You guys are so nice to me and I'm so mean with all this drama. Shout out to mercado1991 who gave this story a lovely promo on tumblr. I'm so blessed to be a part of this fandom. I love all you guys so much.** **-** **Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen – The Origi** **nals 3x15**

Caroline had lived with Katherine before, so it wasn't a new experience. But it also didn't get easier with time. Only three days in, and she found herself yelling first thing in the morning. "Katherine!" She exclaimed. "What the hell?!"

It took five minutes for Katherine to show herself, strutting out of her bedroom in nothing but a towel, her hair still soaking wet. "What did I do this time, Care-bear?" She asked with mock pity.

Caroline held up the empty wine bottle, accusingly. "I bought these yesterday," she told her. "For myself. I got to have one glass?!"

Katherine snatched the glass and threw it into the bin. Caroline had been trying to get her to recycle, considering they were probably going to be on this Earth for the next few centuries – even Katherine – and she'd like to keep the water levels right where they were. But Katherine was in the category of 'one person won't make a difference'.

"Buy some more," Katherine said, blatantly. "I'm sorry, I opened my home to you, and yet, you can't even share your wine? I see how it is."

"You never shared your stuff when you moved into my dorm room," Caroline retorted. "You still killed me, okay? We still hate each other."

"Well you could be a little nicer!" Katherine exclaimed, nudging Caroline out of the way with her hip to make herself some breakfast.

Caroline raised an eyebrow and nudged Katherine back, a little harder, taking the bread knife from her. "Were you being nice when you inhabited my best friend?" She asked with a pout and judgemental expression.

"Were you being nice when you, and all your friends, toasted to my death?" Katherine returned, crossing her arms. "Because of Vicki Donovan? Or Bonnie's grandmother? Or Jenna? When last I noticed, that was Damon and Klaus. News flash, Caroline: Everyone in our world is a shitty person, and yet, you still manage to _be nice_ to them. Enlighten me, what would you choose? My life or yours? Because that's the decision I made with Elena, and I don't regret it. Do you regret killing a whole bunch of young witches for Klaus, not three days ago?"

Caroline's face fell and she shifted awkwardly. "Well, no-"

"So shame me for it all you want, but you're no better," Katherine interrupted. "I'm sick and tired of being judged and shamed for being a bad person by bad people. Because if you can drool over Klaus, then you can show some respect for me."

"Katherine, I have respect!" Caroline insisted. "I do. It's just… you made all our lives hell."

"And so did Klaus," Katherine reminded her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready to meet Freya."

* * *

Elijah was walking past the bedroom often reserved for Hayley when he noticed her inside it, sitting on the edge of the bed and reading something. "I thought you were in the bayou," he said, stepping into the room, and being 'sh'd by Hayley.

"I just came home to feed Hope," she said, tucking the papers away and getting to her feet. "And to put her down for a nap. I'm heading back out soon…" She trailed off as Elijah reached up to touch her face, noticing the spot of blood on her forehead.

"What is this?" He asked, concerned.

"Nothing," she said quickly, moving away from him and wiping the red away. "I just got caught on a thorn."

Elijah raised an eyebrow and turned to face her as she walked past him. "You've been spending a lot of time with the Crescent wolves lately," he observed.

"Well, they need me," she defended. "Ever since Jackson…" She trailed off again and turned away, trying to hide any emotion that was building up in her face. She took a deep breath before turning back to Elijah. "Did you want something?"

He paused for a moment before nodding. "I've been meaning to apologise to you since that night," he told her, his head lowing in regret. "My actions to you, my words, they were inexcusable and cruel. I am sincerely sorry."

Hayley listened to this and nodded. "Thank you," she said. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that as well. I should have realised something was wrong, and that you weren't just sad anymore. But I wasn't paying enough attention, and… I guess I'm sorry too. And if you need forgiveness to move forward, then you have mine."

"Thank you," he said, gratefully.

Hayley turned to grab her jacket and bag. "Hope should be asleep for another hour," she said. "Do you mind?"

-0-0-0-0-0-

Things were slightly quieter in the compound until Klaus returned home, panicking about someone he saw.

"I was him," he insisted, pulling Freya out of her study and joining Elijah in Hope's room. "It was Gaspar Cortez."

Freya rolled her eyes at his paranoia. "I assume this is someone from your box of letters?" She guessed.

"The youngest son of a family of particularly vile warlords I dealt with in the seventeenth century," Klaus explained. "They burned down my favourite artist's retreat. Someone had to pay for that, so I murdered Gaspar's brute of a father."

"And?" Freya asked.

Klaus blinked innocently. "And one or two-"

"Five," Elijah interrupted.

"Five of his bloodthirsty brothers," Klaus added.

Now Elijah rolled his eyes. "Don't forget the mistress."

"That was an accident!" Klaus exclaimed, defensively. "The point is that Gaspar was but a foot-note until he became a vampire and dedicated his eternity to hunting me." He got a little more wound up as he spoke. "He's a cunning deviant who compels hordes of the helpless to carry out his tasks. This is exactly what I was concerned about. Devils of all kinds, crawling out of their crevices to strike at me." He trailed off as he heard someone approach downstairs. "Speaking of which…"

He flashed down into the courtyard and grabbed Davina Claire by her neck, slamming her into a wall behind her and snarling at her. "Rather foolish of you to come here alone," he claimed.

Before Klaus could register what was happening, he was flying across the room and landing in a heap. He jumped to his feet and his face fell at the sight of Davina's rescuer. "She didn't come alone, brother," Kol claimed, looking pretty smug. He was back in his own body, a vampire, and perfectly alive. "I wouldn't fight, Nik. You did go after my girl; what choice did I have but to deck you?"

"It can't be," Klaus said, breath taken.

"It's Kol," Davina unwelcomely chimed in, angry at Klaus. "When I broke your sirelink, it created a surge of power. I bought your brother back from the dead. You're kinda welcome?"

"You should be thanking her," Kol said, stepping forward as Freya and Elijah joined the group in the courtyard. Klaus stepped towards Kol without answering him, pulling him into a tight embrace, which Kol happily returned.

Elijah stepped forward as his younger brothers pulled themselves apart, and Kol's face fell when he saw him. "You and I need to have words," he claimed, stepping forward and hugging Elijah as well. "I see glimpses from the other side, remember?" He went to pull away, but Elijah held him there a second longer before letting him go.

Elijah didn't reply to his musings, so Kol turned to Freya. "And you're the long-lost older sister, right?" He asked. "I did get a glimpse of that. Freya, was it?"

"It's nice to finally meet you," Freya said, smiling at him.

Kol nodded. "I can only imagine. Speaking of twists and turns in the family tree, where might Rebekah be?"

There was a pause. "That's a long story," Klaus said. "And one reserved for family. Davina can see herself out." Kol tried to argue but Klaus interrupted. "Our family is faced with numerous threats, and the sooner you become acquainted with them, the better."

"It's okay," Davina insisted, turning around. "I'll go. You can make it up to me later." She walked out of the compound as Kol turned back to his family.

"Now," Klaus said, "Rebekah's daggered and slowly spiralling into insanity."

"But not to worry," Freya mused. "We have a cure. Katherine should be over soon. We're working on it."

Kol's eyebrows furrowed together in anger. "Katherine Pierce? She's allowed to know what's going on, but Davina isn't?"

"Katherine Pierce, despite being an utter untrustworthy bitch," Klaus said, "is the only witch in this city, aside from Freya, that will help us. Yours just spent the better half of a month planning to kill us. At least Katherine seems to be behaving herself."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Katherine walked into the compound, just as Elijah 'conveniently' left. Freya went upstairs to her magic room, and Klaus left to find Camille for the morning therapy session. Kol was the only Mikaelson left, and he turned to face her with a cheeky grin. "Good morning, Katerina," he mused, throwing himself into one of the couches and studying her. "I heard you were in NOLA."

Katherine felt her face fall at the sight of the youngest Mikaelson, and a thousand memories came flooding back. "I didn't hear you were alive," she returned, sitting down opposite him. "Just when I thought my life was getting a little easier, as well."

"And then here I come," he said with a mock-pitiful sigh, "here to ruin your little dream. Isn't that what you're afraid of?" He picked up the sanity spell from the coffee table, where her and Freya had been reading it last night, and skimmed over it.

Katherine huffed and snatched the papers away from him. "I have enough problems of my own without you piling anymore on. Got it?!"

Kol almost laughed as he sat up and studied her. "Relax, darling. I happen to think Elijah needs a gal like you right now. So, I'll let you be, if you let me be."

"No more rivalry?" She asked, getting to her feet. "That does sound boring."

"But think about what good partner-in-crime we'll make now that we're not fighting," Kol mused.

Katherine rolled her eyes and whacked him on the shoulder as she left. "I'm going to find your sister."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah went to briefly visit Marcel to update him on the situation, before finding Kol in Niklaus's bedroom, reading through his letters. "Well isn't this a lovely welcome-home," Elijah mused, walking around to face his brother. "Just granted to mercy of Niklaus, and home in time to help the rest of us clean up his mess. Do you miss being dead yet?"

Kol smiled, but didn't reply with similar banter. Instead, he got straight to the point. "Do you want to explain to me what I saw from the other side?" He asked, putting the letters down and resting his hands around his raised knee.

"What did you see?" Elijah asked, looking away. It had never been the job of his siblings to comfort or to care for him. It was always the other way around. This was new to him, and uncomfortable.

"I saw you talking to Katherine about me," Kol said. "And I saw you tapping a white-oak-gun against your forehead. Please explain what's been happening since I died."

Elijah paused before beginning with the most important thing. "I'm fine now," he promised. "There was a night where… It seemed I was doing more bad than I was good, and I saw an opportunity to remove the Strix from the picture. Perhaps that was an excuse. I was highly medicated and I regret it."

Kol looked saddened by the thought of it, but he replied strongly. "And me?" He asked.

Elijah paused again, shifting on his feet. "I didn't know who killed you," Elijah claimed. "I didn't care enough to find out. I didn't mourn you like you deserved, and I let you down. I'm sorry, Kol."

Kol rolled his eyes and got to his feet. "In death," he said, "I didn't think you cared enough, and in life I know we had our disagreements, but we're brother's, Elijah." He looked almost desperate to get his point across. "And you will never, ever, hear me say that you were anything but a good brother. If I came back to life, and you were gone then… I don't…"

He looked down, clearly unsure of what he would be like. What he would say or do.

"We're okay Kol," Elijah said, interrupting his dark train of thought. "We're both alive, and here."

Kol nodded before picking up Cortez's letters. "I know exactly how to find this guy," he claimed, changing the subject direly. "As long as our sister doesn't get mad at me for teaching her a quick spell."

Kol's spell was pretty simple. They found Freya and Katherine in the study, just bringing Rebekah's casket into the room and putting her in one corner. Kol explained how they needed to burn Cortez's letters and combine the ash with Klaus's blood.

"I'll do it!" Katherine exclaimed, snatching the spell from Kol as they poured the ash and blood onto a world map on the desk. Freya didn't argue, but Kol tried to snatch the spell back. "Your big sister needs to save her strength for your little sister," Katherine told them. "And I'm a witch now."

"Since when?" Kol asked, sneering.

"Since _shut up_ ," Katherine replied, sitting behind the desk and chanting. The blood separated from itself and little droplets covered points on the map. Katherine put the spell down, and looked very proud of herself.

"Behold, your greatest hits," Freya mused, turning to Klaus. "All over the world, but only one is here. Which means the legion of enemies you were worried about, is an army of one." She looked pretty smug, and Kol couldn't help but laugh.

"But that little dots twice the size of the other dots," Elijah pointed out.

"Two enemies, then," Freya said.

"One of them is me, though," Katherine pointed out.

"Well, the other must be Gaspar," Kol said, pointing to the little drop of blood.

Klaus's phone vibrated and he read the text before nodding. "And he's taken to Rousseau's," he added.

-0-0-0-0-0-

He heard her approaching him, but he didn't turn to face her. He didn't want to look at her right now. He didn't know if he was ever going to want to again. "Elijah?" Katherine whispered, stepping closer to him. "I um… I overheard you with Kol earlier. Did you really-"

"Forget it," he interrupted, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"No, I won't," she said, sounding almost angry by the though. "I can't. I'm back, and I want to make things right."

He turned around to face her and tried to conceal the glare. "You can't," he told her, angrily. "Just because you need some Original-Vampire body guards again, doesn't mean you have a right to be in this city." He watched her face fall as he admitted the truth to her. He'd been worried, and heartbroken over her disappearance, but that didn't mean he wanted her back. He'd finally realised. She was more trouble than she was worth. "I wanted you back, but now that you're here-"

"You don't?" She said, refusing to hide the hurt in her eyes. It wasn't that he didn't believe her anymore, or that he was being played for a fool. She cared about him, and he knew that. "Elijah, everything I did, I did for _you_." She stepped closer to him as she talked. "For your family. I put myself in danger for Hope. And when I was safe again, I could have gone anywhere, but I came back here _for you_ -"

"Coming back doesn't change the fact that you left in the first place," he told her.

Katherine paused, taking a deep breath. "I need you to know that I didn't leave to hurt you. I left to protect you. I risked everything for you."

"Protect me?" He growled, his voice raising as his anger grew. "You _destroyed_ me. I thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed, stepping forward again. "Believe me, I am. If I knew what you were going to do, I would have… I don't know. I would have tried harder."

He shook his head. "That's not going to fix this. You did nothing but lie to me when you first arrived. You kept the truth from me to delude me into thinking your intentions were pure. You needed to protect my family because you were the one who put them in danger in the first place."

"I am doing the best I can to make up for that-"

"Well that's not good enough," Elijah snapped. "I've given up, Katherine. Whatever decision you make from now is separate from me."

"I did what I needed to survive," she claimed. "If I didn't, I'd be dead. Aren't you glad that I'm not?"

There was a pause where Elijah decided it was best not to answer. He turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving her alone to let her eyes well up in privacy.

-0-0-0-0-0-

By the time Caroline arrived at the compound, everyone had dispersed for the day. The only vampire in sight was Kol surprisingly, lounging on a couch and reading through a spell. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed him, but decided to go with it.

"Where is everyone?" She asked, sitting down opposite him.

Kol glanced up from his spell, and looked just as confused at the sight of Caroline. "Klaus is killing some old enemy of his, Elijah's met with Marcel to determine some killer, and Freya and Katherine are upstairs performing a spell to save Rebekah from insanity."

"Oh," Caroline said with a nod. "And you're back from the dead? Regular day with the Mikaelsons, huh?"

Kol nodded and sat up. "You finally caved, I see," he mused, regarding her with a concerned look. "Nik didn't force you here, did he?"

She rolled her eyes. "No. I'm here… well, I'm actually here _because_ of my free will. I don't know, maybe I'm just trying to prove a po-"

"Caroline, Caroline," Kol interrupted. "God bless you, but I don't care that much." He checked his phone and got to his feet. "Freya's calling a family meeting." He pointed at Caroline and winked. "You're funny when you're not questioning your life decisions. Give me a holla if you want a drinking buddy or something."

Elijah and Klaus returned a little while later and the siblings all piled into a room, looking dire. Caroline got to her feet and followed the sound of chanting upstairs. Katherine was sat behind the desk, her hands on a bowel, and softly speaking in Latin or something. She seemed fine, but there was a very small trickle of blood coming from her nose. As Caroline watched, Katherine began to shake slightly with the struggle.

"Katherine?" Caroline called, sitting opposite her. "Are you okay?"

Katherine just nodded, looking uncomfortable. "I have to keep the surge of power going," she explained. "Freya needs to talk to her brothers, but it's so hard doing this alone."

"Yeah, it sounds like a pretty complex spell," Caroline said with a nod. "And you're new at this. You know you can take a break. Rebekah's really not worth the effort."

Katherine smirked. "No, not really. But Elijah is."

There was a pause before Caroline walked forward and bit into her wrist. "Here," she offered it to her. "Drink. I know you couldn't keep vampire blood down before, but it might be different now. And I won't let you choke it up."

Katherine considered it before leaning forward and drinking from Caroline. She pulled away after a minute and continued chanting, a little bit more passionately than before. Caroline couldn't picture her working so hard for Stefan or Damon.

"You know, Katherine," she mused, crossing her arms after her bite healed. "You might not be a good person. But in this world, I don't think there are any good people. And you deserve a few brownie points for being a good girlfriend – or whatever you are – to Elijah."

She was about to say more, but she heard Klaus and his siblings come out of their little family meeting downstairs, and she flashed down to meet them. They all looked so troubled and stressed. Freya jogged upstairs to find Katherine as Kol and Elijah dispersed. Klaus forced a smile when he walked up to Caroline and gestured to the couch.

"What's going on?" She asked, refusing to sit down and studying the expression on his face. "What happened?"

Klaus paused, watching her with a fond expression. "I'm disappearing for a while," he told her, almost regretfully. "Back into the void I came from. The arrival of my daughter, and the destruction of my sirelink… it's made fighting a little complicated."

"So you're giving up without even trying?" She asked, narrowing her eyes and scowling in distaste. "Klaus, soon enough you'll have three Originals on board, not even to mention Katherine, Freya and I. We can handle a few old vampires."

He shook his head. "No, my daughter can't," he said. "And I can't risk it. Hayley, as her mother, is probably coming along as well."

"I can come too," Caroline said, more to herself than to him.

"You can," Klaus agreed, crossing his arms. "But the more people who come along, the more dangerous it will get. And I'm not going to put my daughter in that kind of danger unless you're sure."

* * *

"Is it done?" Klaus asked, walking into the living space of the compound and watching over as Freya performed a spell, with Elijah standing over her.

His sister nodded and got to her feet. "Any witch who does a locator spell will believe you're right here, in New Orleans."

Elijah stepped forward and spoke proudly. "You know, for all of his mischief, Kol sure is a master of his craft," he mused.

Klaus nodded. "Yes, well drawing trouble is his forte. Thank him for me, won't you?"

"Of course," Elijah promised. "Do not stop driving until you are absolutely certain that you're safe."

Klaus smirked. "You don't have to remind me how precious my cargo is," he agreed. He leaned towards Freya and kissed her cheek. "Keep him in line, will you sister?" He took his bag from Elijah and headed out the front door.

Outside, he put his luggage into the trunk and moved around to the driver's seat.

Hayley sat in the passenger seat, and when Klaus turned to talk to her, she just pointed to something out his window. Caroline was standing on the sidewalk in the dark, watching them, seemingly conflicted about whether to join them or stay where she was.

Klaus met her eye and knew that she wasn't going to come with them. They wouldn't be able to contact anyone from the road, and she was too loyal to her friends to leave them. And she was too proud to spend so much time alone with Klaus and his family.

So when they locked eyes with each other, they said goodbye. Not with words or with gestures. Just one long look, filled with apologies and regrets, filled with hopes for the future. They were going to be alive for eternity; now just wasn't the time.

The world just wasn't ready for them.

* * *

 **AN: Please review!** **-** **Izzy x**


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen – The Originals 3x16**

Over the last few centuries, Elijah had become a master musician with many instruments, including a piano, but had never performed at a jazz bar before. Which is why sitting behind a keyboard on stage, was a very effective method of disguise, easily making him seem innocent. To most people in the bar, anyway. One man, who was on the phone, was the one Elijah was watching, and he had two members of the Strix watching Elijah like hawks.

"If anyone's going to take down Klaus Mikaelson," the man on the phone was saying, nearing the exit, "it's going to be me." He walked out of the door, and the Strix didn't take their eyes off Elijah.

Well, not until a certain brunette bumped into them, spilling drinks onto the floor. "Oh my god, oh my god!" Katherine exclaimed, fanning herself with mock panic. "Oh my god, my boss is so going to kill me!" When the two men saw how distressed the pretty waitress was, they ditched their concerns with Elijah, in favour of comforting her, and assuring her that they wouldn't tell her boss.

However, her boss had just left the building, to follow his new enemy.

Elijah followed him through the dark, wet streets of New Orleans into an empty space where a market often was. He was confronted by the two vampire body guards, who seemed to have some blood returning to their heads, and had lost Katherine.

"Gentlemen," Elijah greeted.

"Come on, now Elijah," Marcel said, approaching him from behind. "I thought we agreed. Although, that compelled waitress dumping those drinks, that was a nice touch. But you're the one who wanted to keep the Strix around for security. As long as we have a legion of Mikaelson enemies in town, how about we just let them do their jobs?"

Elijah smirked. "You know, Marcel, I was just looking for a little _me-time_ ," he claimed.

"Well, as soon as they know you're safe and sound, they'll be happy to give you all the me-time you want," Marcel insisted. "However, in the _mean_ time, if you stay put, maybe they could devout their time to finding out who's got that missing white-oak bullet."

Before Elijah could reply, the two members of the Strix and Marcel rose in the air slightly, seemingly choking for breath, before their necks snapped. They fell to the floor in a heap, and Elijah turned around to see Katherine, smirking. "I'm really getting good at this whole magic thing. We'd make quite the power couple."

Elijah nodded slightly instead of thanking her, and ran off to find that vampire man.

* * *

Freya was walking through the compound in the early hours of the morning when she heard a very unwelcome voice. "Ah, Freya!" Lucien called, standing by the entrance and being blocked by Elijah's Strix shadows. "Will you tell your new security team that I'm a dear and beloved friend of the family?"

"Well that might be overstating it," she said, stopping in her tracks and facing them. "Let's go with necessary acquaintance." However, she did nod to the security team, and they allowed Lucien past.

"They say flattery will get you anywhere," he mused, walking through.

Freya just rolled her eyes and walked away from him. "What do you want Lucien?" She asked, sensing him following her.

"The question isn't what I want," he informed her, cheekily. "It's whom. See, I've known the Mikaelsons for a thousand years, but you dear Freya, are a new variable. And I can't help but find myself intrigued." He held up a bunch of flowers as she turned to face him. "Don't tell me you haven't felt the spark between us."

Freya didn't deny it, but she didn't accept it either. "This really isn't a good time," she said, trying to force her smile away and turning around to walk into another room, where Elijah, Rebekah and Kol were talking in rushed sentences.

"Are you sure?" Rebekah asked, clearly concerned about something or another. "I've been alive for two bloody hours, and this is not the welcome-home present I was hoping for.

"I saw it with my own eyes," Kol said, angered by whatever it was. "Finn must have come back when Davina resurrected me. The spell was powered by the blood of the Mikaelson line," he explained. "Either it worked on him, or he found a way to hijack it. Either way, the only _how_ I'm concerned with right now, is how long I'm going to make him suffer before I kill him."

He turned to leave just as Freya joined them, and Elijah turned from the furnace to scold him. "Restrain, brother," Elijah ordered, his hands in his pockets. "For now."

"Why?!" Kol demanded, turning back around and gesturing wildly. "Finn could easily be the one spreading rumours about missing white-oak. He's luring Nik's enemies out of the woodwork. It's all part of his tedious revenge fantasy."

"You're wrong," Freya told him, sitting down. Despite what the rest of her family thought, Finn was her brother, and she loved him all the same. And she was tired of hearing only negative things without a proper explanation. "Those rumours began before either of you returned. Finn's innocent."

"Innocent?" Kol scoffed. "Pardon me, love, but Finn has tried to kill the rest of us more than once. He's succeeded before. He's an enemy of our family."

"He _is_ our family," Freya corrected. "Finn's return is an opportunity to fix old wounds and fix what's broken."

Rebekah chimed in, angrily. "He didn't just drop a bloody vase!" She exclaimed. "He murdered Kol."

Elijah, however, turned his attention to Freya. "You sound certain," he told her. "Finn has made it clear many times that he despises this family. How can you prove that he returns in peace?"

"Our sister knows me too well," came a new voice. Finn entered the room, looking arrogant as ever. "Although, perhaps you're right to doubt my intentions. By all means, let's discuss our family quarrels. I believe we're long overdue."

Rebekah and Kol generally made quite the team, whenever they wanted to be. And when Elijah left the room to make a brief phonecall, they certainly ganged up on Finn.

"All these side-steps and parries," Kol mused, getting shoved back by Freya. "Even the way you fight is boring."

"It's an old critique," Finn returned, his eyes rolling. "Given all your flare and flourish, it didn't stop you from being bettered the last time we faced each other."

Kol pushed Freya out of the way and charged at Finn, but was intercepted by Lucien, who shoved him against a nearby wall and held him there by his neck. The pass was free, however, for Rebekah to do the same for Finn, growling at him. "Get your head out of your ass, Finn," she exclaimed. "You have yet the better me."

"Perhaps we should let them fight," Lucien said. "After all, they can't kill each other."

"Behave yourselves!" Elijah ordered upon return. "Particularly considering we'll be confined here together for the foreseeable future." On demand, Lucien and Rebekah dropped their Mikaelson brother, and Kol stormed over to Elijah.

"The hell does that mean?" He asked.

"I believe the term is staycation," Elijah mused, thoughtfully. "Niklaus isn't the only one who's inspired revenge fantasies. We are all at risk. Nobody is allowed in, and nobody is allowed out."

"Well then," came a new voice, as two pairs of heels clicked into the room. "I guess it's a good thing we arrived when we did," Katherine mused, next to Caroline. "I would hate to miss a party."

"Oh, bloody hell," Rebekah growled, rolling her eyes. "As if the damn situation couldn't get any worse, we know have yours and Nik's bloody mistresses to think about?"

Caroline faked an expression of hurt and shock, and Katherine just looked pissed off. "Hey, if it wasn't for me, you'd be in a box somewhere, spiralling into insanity," she reminded the Original sister. "That makes me practically family."

"If it wasn't for you, Elijah would be ten times happier," Rebekah retorted, "and my body wouldn't have been _inhabited_."

Katherine just scoffed. "Hypocrite," she claimed. "What's the name of that poor witch girl you used for months?"

"Enough!" Elijah interrupted. "No one wants to listen to the pair of you bicker this much. Now, we are all going to act kind and civilised, until Marcel can give us news."

-0-0-0-0-0-

As Finn and Elijah stepped into a separate room to have a serious chat, Katherine sauntered behind the bar and grinned at all of them. "Being trapped here calls for some serious drinking, so," she mused, leaning her elbows on the bar. "Watcha having, Beky? What? I could be the end of the vampire world. Have a drink with us."

Rebekah hissed at her before making a request. "Bloody Mary," she said, simply.

"Make that two," Freya requested.

"What about you, sexy?" Katherine asked Lucien, as she prepared Rebekah and Freya's drinks.

Lucien winked at her. "I'll go for a regular bourbon," he ordered. "Nothing creative or fancy, but it'll get me cheery enough to deal with the likes of you."

"Smart," Katherine commented. "Caroline?"

Caroline just shrugged. "Shots," she requested. "There any tequila back there?"

Katherine searched around but came up empty handed. "Nope, sorry. Vodka any good?" She poured Caroline a shot, which she downed, slamming the glass down and requesting another one, which Katherine gifted to her.

"Beer," Kol ordered, simply. Katherine tossed a can in his direction, and got herself a glass of red wine.

When they all had alcohol in their hands, they separated across the room to handle their priorities in their own order.

Caroline sat at the bar with Kol, looking sad. "I should have gone with him," she admitted. There was a pause, as Kol didn't reply or acknowledge her in anyway, so she smacked him on the arm and repeated herself. "Klaus!" She prompted. "I should have gone with him!" She downed her shot and poured another one for herself.

"Okay?" Kol said. "Why didn't you?"

"Because I'm not ready," she answered, simply. "Like, I know it's been a few years, but the last time we spoke about it, Klaus wanted to be my last love for all eternity or whatever. And I just broke up with Stefan." She took another shot at the thought of it. "I'm not ready to get into a relationship that big."

Kol blinked and sipped his beer. "I don't recall him proposing to you," he pointed out

She rolled her eyes. "Well no," she admitted. "But he said he could be gone for a while. And going with him would mean choosing him for all of my other friends. AKA: Commitment. See the problem?"

"No," Kol said.

"How can you not see the problem?"

"You're immortal," he explained, lightly smacking her upside the head. "You have forever to figure it out."

Caroline huffed and rolled her eyes. "No, we don't! He's on a road trip, for what could be years, with his daughter. The girl he wants the please the most. And his daughter is going to want her parents together. And that's going to be easy, considering they'll be alone on the road together, with their daughter?" She paused, clearly waiting for Kol to finish for her, but he just looked at her like she was being stupid. "Hello?! They're parents! Alone together! Have you ever watched _The Parent Trap_?"

"Forbes, I've heard Klaus talk about Hayley, and I've heard Klaus talk about you," he said. "I think you'll be fine. Besides, I thought you didn't want to be with him."

"I didn't," she claimed. "I don't. Or I do. Well, I will. I don't know, okay? But I want time to decipher it, without having to either move to fast, or worry about other women!" Her face fell after she said that in realisation.

"Did you figure it out?" Kol asked.

Caroline nodded, slowly. "Yeah, I think I did." There was a pause before she turned to him. "So, you got any problems you want to talk through?"

"Nope," he said. "I'm going to drink my beer in silence. Like a man."

On the other side of the bar, Lucien was confiding in Katherine, his eyes flicking over to the oldest Mikaelson sister as he talked. "You're friends with her, right?" He asked.

Katherine shrugged, sipping her wine and leaning on the bar. "Sort of. Why?"

Lucien smiled, cheekily. "Has she said anything?" He asked. "You can see the chemistry between us, right? Does she feel it too?"

"She said you were hot once," she answered. "Right before babbling something about you being an unbearable prick…"

"No, no, love," Lucien corrected. "She probably said I _had_ an unbearable prick. I can get a little… kinky."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Things got a little quieter as night fell around the compound. Right up until Kol and Finn broke out into a violent, bloody fight. They flung each other through walls and across tables, shattering glass and breaking bones.

Elijah ended up stopping Kol, and ordering him to stand down.

"This isn't your fight!" Kol shouted, angrily.

"I told you to state your hand," Elijah reminded him, scowling.

There was a pause before Kol backed up. "Fine," he decided, lowering the candle that he was planning on burning Finn with. "But I would rather take my chances out there, with white-oak, than stay here with you lot."

"Brother, wait." Elijah tried, but Kol stored passed him to the exit, Davina following behind, and left.

"Elijah," Rebekah said, concerned.

Elijah took a deep breath before speaking. "He'll be fine," he insisted. "Marcel paid us a little visit." He held up a tiny bullet between his fingers and ignored Finn's desperate looking eyes. "The last remaining white-oak in the world. Right here. Sister, if you don't mind."

Freya nodded and held up her hand, lighting a roaring fire in the brazier. Elijah threw the bullet in and Finn called out, diving his hand in to fetch it. "The witch has condemned me," he explained, sounding to be in pure agony. "To this. I can't bear an eternity to this fate. Can you?"

"It is eternity, brother," Rebekah claimed. "You get used to it."

"Finn, give it to me," Elijah ordered, holding his hand at for the bullet. Finn got to his feet, and skittered backwards like an alarmed animal. Elijah did his best not to look threatening as he approached him. "Give it to me," he ordered again.

While he was distracted with Elijah, Lucien flashed forward and snatched the bullet away. He admired it for a second before tossing it to Elijah, who caught it was masterful reflexes. Finn turned to Elijah, pleadingly. Elijah just looked conflicted.

"Go on then," Lucien prompted him, gesturing towards the fire. "After all this? Go on and destroy it!"

Elijah headed towards the fire, but Finn stopped him, desperately. "Elijah!" He pleaded. "Forever is a burden that no one should have to bear."

"Rebekah's right," Caroline chimed in. "As much as it pains me to admit it. But you do get used to it. And you can't keep the white-oak in the house. It's already got to be drawing enemies to us."

"Do not," Finn yelled to Caroline, "tell me what I can and can't handle."

"How about we put it to a vote," Rebekah declared. "Those in favour of destroying it?" She raised her own hand, along with Caroline and Lucien. "Those in favour of keeping it?" Finn raised his hand. After a pause, so did Freya and Katherine.

Elijah turned to the pair of women and narrowed his eyes. "Points?"

"Well," Katherine mused, looking uncomfortable, "it seems people are coming back to life every week or so, and you'd never know when the white-oak can be useful. You know, in case a specific Original comes back to life."

"Mikael…" Elijah mused, thoughtfully. "Freya?"

"I can cloak myself," Freya said, stepping forward. "If it has to exist, at least I can take it far away. Hide it under a thousand spells, so that no one can ever find it. Until the day comes when… we're ready for release."

"Well then it's a tie," Caroline pointed out. "Shouldn't we call Klaus and Kol and ask them for their opinions?"

"Kol would say destroy it," Rebekah chimed in, promisingly.

"Klaus would probably like Katherine's point about Mikael," Freya added.

"And then we're back to square one," Katherine finished.

Elijah paused, looking at war with himself, before handing the bullet to Freya.

* * *

Freya only made it to her car, a couple streets away, before she was intercepted. She jumped out of her skin as a man approached. "Vincent!" She greeted, still panicked as she buried the bullet into her fist. She noticed the grim look on the warlock's face and her own fell. "Is something wrong?"

Vincent nodded, almost sadly. "I'm afraid so," he said. He lifted her hand and performed a very quick spell to knock her out.

-0-0-0-0-0-

When Freya woke up, it was to total darkness and the claustrophobia of a bag over her head. When it was lifted, she could feel Lucien behind her. He bent down and stroked her face slightly. "Oh, dear, sweet Freya," he mused. "You have no idea how sorry I am." He reached down and took the white-oak bullet from her hand, holding it up for him and her to see. "I have it," he called.

Two men walked in from the other room and the one who clearly was the boss, spoke. "Ah," he mused, taking the bullet from Lucien and admiring it. "The Mikaelson weapon, and the Mikaelson witch." He kneeled down to talk to Freya, and looked surprisingly comforting. "You've already met Lucien, I gather?" He gestured to the third man in the room and made introductions. "This is my associate, Malachai Parker, and I am what they call 'the beast'." He laughed at that title. "Call me Cade."

* * *

 **AN: Review! -Izzy x**


	17. Chapter 16

**AN: You guys have got to stop guessing plotlines in the reviews because some of your ideas are actually right. Just so you know, I had those ideas too, okay? I'm not just taking them from you. I've already written them all up. Your psychic ability is cray-cray.** **-** **Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen – The Originals 3x17**

The forest was too light and breezy, too full of chirping birds, to perfectly match Freya's situation. She was tied up by the wrists, and being dragged along by Lucien, following Cade and Malachai. She didn't know exactly where she was, and she'd been knocked out for most of the journey. So she was really just glad she was awake.

"After all that flirtation," Freya grumbled, "this is your idea of a first date?"

Lucien laughed at the remark. "Some might call it a date with destiny," he mused. "Although, I admit. Four is a bloody crowd." He looked over to the two men in front and scowled.

"Okay, I get that Cade is the big boss guy," Freya said. "But who's that Malachai? What's his purpose?"

"Well, for the moment Kai's here to keep you in check," Lucien replied. "He's a young witch. Slash vampire. I'm not really up to speed on his story, I'm afraid." As he spoke, Kai turned around to wiggle his fingers at Freya, winking. "All I know is, he's a little mad."

"How did you get Vincent to help you?" Freya demanded. She could care less about Kai. She just wanted to know how many allies were going to turn against her family back home.

Lucien smirked at that. "When I arrived in New Orleans, I made a deal with the witches. I got full access to their Regent, and in exchange, I would take down the Originals. It didn't take much convincing. They do despise your family. I may regret it one day, but it is a necessary doing."

"Is it?" She demanded. "Why? Why are you plotting to destroy my family? Did Klaus hurt your feelings by stealing your girlfriend?"

Lucien blinked, looking at Freya with regret and almost confusion. "Dear Freya," he mused, his voice dropping to a murmur. "You say that as if I have a choice."

"Lucien!" Cade scolded. "I thought we agreed upon a need-to-know basis?" He stopped in his tracks and took Freya's arm. Lucien let go of her, and Cade led her ahead. "I do apologise, Miss Mikaelson. My minions are elected via power and cunningness. Not on their thoughts or remarks."

"My thoughts are perfectly clean!" Kai exclaimed, sounding offended. "Of Freya, anyway. Am I allowed to make a personal visit in M- where we're going?" He cut himself off after almost revealing where they were going to Freya. M. Something beginning with M.

"We'll see," Cade replied. "Ah. We're here." They slowed down at a collection of boulders, one particularly tall one holding something like a stone bowl.

"Where is here?" Freya asked, looking around.

Lucien looked between a confused Kai to a confused Freya. "Two witches who cannot tell when they are stepping on hallowed ground," he mused. "How utterly disappointing."

"Welcome," Cade said, instead of trying to be mean, "to Mystic Falls. The place where it all began. This is the very spot where Esther Mikaelson created the spell to turn her children into vampires. I mean to replicate that spell."

Freya turned to him and scowled. "You want to become an Original?"

Cade seemed amused by this. "Well, the people that I am facing, they are almost truly immortal. All of them together could overpower me. And they are all together again. So, I mean to up my power. But nonetheless, there shall be an upgrade to the Original model."

"I'm not going to do any spell for you," Freya told him, stubbornly.

Cade smirked again. "Kai here, will be doing the spell," he told her. "We're going to need something… a little more intimate from you. Lucien?"

Lucien stepped forward and pushed her sleeve back. He leaned down and bit into her wrist, forcing her to cry out in pain.

* * *

With the extension of Katherine in their little rescue squad, Finn and Elijah were forced into taking the big car. They sped along the empty roads, but grew frustrated at the immediate stops to allow trucks to slowly drive past.

"Of course," Finn groaned. "Mystic Falls."

"I like this little town," Katherine mused, leaning on the shoulders of their seats, from the back. "It feels like home. I think I'm going to visit my friends while we're here."

Elijah blinked. "They hate you," he reminded her.

"All my friends hate me," she reasoned. Elijah turned around to see Katherine making adorable, loving eyes at him, biting her lip as she winked at him. "Like you," she added, poking his arm.

Elijah only raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that what you think?" He asked, curiously. "That I hate you?"

"Eugh," Finn said, at the pair of them, making Elijah hide a smile as he awkwardly tapped the steering wheel. "Mystic Falls is the founder of our sorrows. Are we going to drive around this miserable town, just hoping to bump into our sister before Lucien murders her?"

"It'll only take like, half an hour," Katherine replied, making Elijah laugh in response. Elijah? Laugh? Crazy! "Twenty minutes, if you floor it," she added, poking Elijah in the ribs. He swatted her hand away like a misbehaving child in the back seat.

"Kol has a plan," Elijah said to Finn, simply.

Finn shook his head. "Kol and his ridiculous plans," he said with a sigh.

"Nine hundred years in a box," Elijah mused, "and zero patience." That, in return, made Katherine smirk.

Finn, however, looked shocked. "It's all a joke to you, isn't it?" He asked. " _Nine-hundred years in a box_ just rolls off the tongue with you, as if the time went by without consequence. I assure you, it did not."

"What are you suggesting?" Elijah asked. "We never even experienced anything. Least of all, the passage of time."

"Being daggered for decades, and being daggered for centuries, are very different things!" Finn snapped. Slowly, Katherine leaned back into the dark backseat to remove herself from the line of fire. "It starts off as a dim pinprick of light," Finn continued. "Growing darker, year after year. The slow consciousness that I was paralysed. Entombed in my own mind. That despair, that utter loneliness… all amplified and made endless."

Elijah's face clearly fell, but he didn't reply. He just turned back to the road.

-0-0-0-0-0-

As soon as they parked, they took their own preferred methods of leaning on the car. Elijah rested his elbow on the roof, Finn sat atop the hood, and Katherine leaned against an open door.

"How and when will we know if this magic trick of Kol's will work?" Finn asked, looking around with distaste. He walked these exact streets with Sage. They had died together, not fifty feet away. Well, Sage had died across town, but her fate was sealed with Finn.

"Kol said we'll know," Elijah replied, simply. He looked around the town with nostalgia in his mind. "It is strange. The birthplace of all our misfortune, right over that very hill. Do you recall the first time we fled together, Finn? We were but children. Nothing but the clothes on our back, the uncontrollable desire, and our father, hellbent on wiping us from the Earth."

"The first of many times we ran together over the next two hundred years," Finn claimed. "Until you all left me in a tomb for nine centuries."

"You deserved it," Elijah replied, simply.

"I did, did I?" Finn asked, scoffing.

"Hey!" Katherine called over, reaching into the car and grabbing her back. "As much as I would like to stay and talk this through with all of you, I have an appointment to make." She tossed Elijah a sad look. "Talk to me if you need to," she instructed, before turning away.

"Where are you going?" Elijah called. When she didn't stop walking, he flashed in front of her and raised an eyebrow. "I asked where you were going."

She rolled her eyes. "I told you. I need to go and visit some old friends.

Elijah and Finn exchanged a look over her shoulder, before Elijah turned back to her. "Why?" He asked. "You want my trust, Katerina? Earn it."

Katherine paused, sucking her lip as she made up her mind. "Okay, fine," she relented. "Elena Gilbert's in a little coma, not sure if you've heard the sad news. More news: her blood is the cure. I was thinking about stopping by, leaving a card, and taking a hit."

Elijah narrowed his eyes. "Why would you want the cure?"

Now she rolled her eyes again. "Aren't you supposed to be the clever brother? Think about it. Cade's going to figure out I'm still around eventually. I'd like a fair fight."

Elijah nodded, slowly, as this began to make sense. "Do you require any assistance?" He asked her.

She just scoffed. "Please," she said, stalking off on her own. She never needed any assistance. She was Katherine damn Pierce!

* * *

Kai's whole body shook with power as he leaned over the bowl of blood, performing the spell. He chanted loudly, and dropped the bullet into the bowl. A fire erupted but he ignored it, keeping on with the magic. The fire blew high into the air, waving around like a blow torch. When it fell back into the bowl with a bang, Kai dropped to the floor and panted, heavily.

Lucien kept an arm in front of Freya on the ground, to keep her out of harm's way, almost.

Cade stepped towards the blood, laughing slightly. He poured himself a little vial of the magic and held it up to admire it. Freya just shot him a terrified look. Instead of drinking it, however, Cade pocketed it, and made another vial. But that one, he lifted to his lips.

"I can't let you do that," Freya said, raising her hands. She tried to snap his neck, but the second she made a move against him, her skin began to burn.

It felt like she was disintegrating. Turning to ash in front of them. She cried out and lowered her hands and the burning stopped. Cade smiled as he turned towards her. "Should I retaliate, Lucien?" He asked, opening the vial and downing the mixture inside.

Lucien didn't reply.

"What the hell are you?" Freya demanded. Cade just turned to Lucien and performed the same spell on him that he did on her. He cried out in pain, his skin turning red and peeling away. "Stop!" Freya pleaded. "Stop. No one has to die today."

As a response, Cade passed Lucien a third vial of blood, which he drank hungrily.

"Oh, sweet Freya," Lucien mused as the pain began to subside. "Today is the beginning of an awful lot of death." He got to his feet and pulled Freya with him. "Starting with yours, I'm afraid. I do apologise. I wish there was another way to go about this. But it's what must be done. And to think. You and I could have been quite the thing."

"Lucien!" A voice scolded. They turned to face Elijah, and Lucien's hand wrapped itself tightly around Freya's neck. Finn was with him, as well as some blonde human boy with a gun.

"Just in time for the party, lads." Lucien grinned.

"Welcome," Cade greeted, holding his hands out to greet them. "It's a pleasure to meet you again, Elijah Mikaelson. Tell me, how much have you told your siblings?"

Finn turned to Elijah, confused. "You know him?"

Cade grinned. "Do you think you can reach your sister, before Lucien tears her throat out?"

Finn grabbed the human's gun and shot through Freya. Lucien's skin turned grey and veiny, and he fell to the floor, dead. Freya dropped down, weak and injured, and Cade just laughed. "He'll be back," he claimed. "And I? I have business elsewhere. So I shall see the pair of you later."

Finn tried to attack him, but Elijah stopped him, insisting he let Cade go. Instead of chasing after him, Finn let him go, and ran over to Freya to heal her. Elijah took out his phone and messaged Katherine. ' _Cade is here. Where are you?_ '

"That's Kai Parker," Matt exclaimed, noticing the unconscious body on the ground. "He harassed Bonnie for months. He's supposed to be dead."

"You would have thought you'd be used to resurrections by now," Elijah mused.

"He was working for Cade," Freya filled them in, pulling away from Finn as she healed. "Him and Lucien were his lackeys. Who is he, Elijah?"

He paused, studying Kai and then turning to Lucien. If the former had 'harassed' Bonnie Bennett, then surely, he'd wind up in hell on account of his death. With Cade. But now he was alive, working for him.

To find Katherine. That's what all of this was about.

"He's the devil," he said after a short pause. "And these are his servants."

Almost as soon as he spoke. Lucien arose, getting to his feet and snarling. He had visible veins to his chin and his eyes turned red. "He drank the serum," Freya whispered, terrified. "Cade wanted to turn him."

"Into an Original," Elijah finished for her. "Katherine was right."

The blonde human guy shot Lucien a thousand times in the chest, but it didn't even slow him down. Elijah and Finn came at him, but Lucien had them decked in seconds. "Poor show, lads. This new power suits me, no?" Elijah kept coming for him, but Lucien pinned him to the ground. "I am not your enemy."

"You kidnapped our sister," Finn contradicted, running over to push Lucien off of him. "That makes you an enemy in my books." Lucien responded by biting his neck, hard.

"It was her life or mine," Lucien snapped, straightening up. "And I'm not bloody going back to hell. All of this? I had no choice. I want out. I want to leave town. So focus your hated on the man who made all this possible. Even he can't touch me now."

As soon as Lucien flashed away, Elijah pulled his phone back out and called Katherine. Freya got Finn to his feet and Kai began to stir. Elijah kicked his head so that he fell back unconscious.

"Hey, honey!" Katherine said, as she picked up her phone. "I got your text. Can't say I'm too surprised."

"Lucien bit Finn," Elijah informed her, inspecting his brother's bite quickly. "It seems to some sort of werewolf bite. I can't understand if he's now a hybrid, but you were right. Cade and Lucien… they're both stronger. Not quite Originals, but something worse. Have you got the cure?"

"I'm working on it," she replied, simply.

Elijah shook his head. "I need you to work faster," he claimed. "We need to get Finn to Klaus as soon as possible. If you don't have it by now, we'll have to come back for it."

"We can't!" She insisted, aggravated. "They're stronger than you, right? Elijah, this is the only chance we have of killing them. Killing him. This can't wait."

"Neither than this!"

There was a pause as Katherine sighed. "Go home then," she ordered. "Go back to NOLA and I'll meet you there. Damon, Stefan, Bonnie, they're all out of town. It's now or never."

"That's not-"

"Elijah!"

They bickered for a moment before he took a deep breath. "I'm not leaving you again," he decided surely. "Where are you? We'll get it quicker if I help."

* * *

When they finally arrived back in New Orleans, Finn was looking worse for wear. He was clearly in a lot of pain, crying out all sorts of curses. They lay him down on the couch and tried to make him comfortable as he begged them not to leave him. "We won't brother," Freya promised. "We're here. You are not alone."

Kol strutted into the room and flung himself down on another couch, quickly observing Finn without even a little care. "Well," he mused. "He looks awful. Wolf bite, huh? That's got to hurt. So Lucien's a bloody hybrid now?"

"We don't know what he is," Elijah claimed, as he restrained Finn, the hallucinations beginning to hit him. "The venom seems to kick in twice as fast."

"That's good," Freya whispered. "It can work through his system twice as fast."

"Or it's twice as lethal," Kol mused.

"Kol," Katherine scolded. "Feel free to help. He's your brother too."

Before Kol could reply, Rebekah and Caroline stormed into the compound – panicked, blonde and synchronised. "What the hell happened?" Rebekah asked, moving over to join her family. Katherine and Caroline backed up to the corner, to give them some space.

"Klaus should be back soon, to feed Finn his blood" Freya explained, crying as she held Finn's hand. "Lucien bit him. He's even more of a monster now. Him and the devil himself." She turned to Elijah, her breathing shaky and uneven. "What are we going to do?"

"Hey," Finn called, drawing attention from all of his siblings. "Thank you."

"For what?" Elijah asked.

Finn coughed, and Kol sat up to hear it. "Today, I saw a glimpse of your pact. Always and forever. And because of that loyalty… I'm happy."

Before anybody could reply, Klaus joined them at the compound. He studied Finn in the couch for a second before moving behind him and biting into his wrist. He fed Finn his blood as Rebekah took his other hand.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

Finn coughed and sighed. "I feel…" He mused. "Strangely euphoric."

"I've been known to have that effect on people," he mused. He walked around the couch to face Rebekah and kissed her cheek, giving her a quick hug. "Welcome back, sister."

"Yeah, you too," she replied with a nod.

"What a lovely family moment," Kol said, clapping sarcastically. "Excuse me while I go and gouge out my eyes with a hot poker."

"I thank even you, Kol," Finn said, weakly. "Your little witch actually came through." He tried to say something else, but was interrupted by his own wheeze. He coughed and spluttered and left a pool of blood from the floor.

"Finn!" Klaus called out, steadying his brother.

"What's wrong with him?" Elijah asked.

Freya looked dumbfounded, but she responded nonetheless. "His body is dying," she claimed, reaching forward. "It didn't work!"

"How did it not work?" Rebekah asked. "It's not possible!"

"Hey," Freya whispered to Finn. "It'll be okay. I promise. You'll see." She turned to Elijah and spoke hastily. "Elijah get my pendant!"

Elijah turned to the other room, but Kol called after him. "It won't work," he claimed. "No spell can help him now."

"Well what else is there?!" Freya demanded.

There was a pause as they came to the same conclusion. Finn was going to die.

One person, however, seemed to come to a very different conclusion than the rest of them.

"Elijah!" Katherine called. She reached into her bag and pulled out a little vile, throwing it over to him. It was filled with blood, and made the other siblings frown in confusion. "It'll work," Katherine promised. "Use it."

"Katerina, no," Elijah insisted. "We can't. This…"

"If that's a cure," Freya said, looking pleading, "then _please_ use it."

"It's _the_ cure," Elijah answered, looking around his family. "Yes, it will save Finn, turn him human so the bite won't take effect him. But it's the only cure. We won't be able to strike Cade or Lucien."

Rebekah was the one who chimed in next. "Elijah, we need to protect this family," she told him. "Bottom line. This is it. Always and forever."

Nobody argued with her, and so, Elijah popped open the vial and poured the blood into Finn's mouth. He coughed and spluttered and fell unconscious. Instead of turning grey and veiny though, colour returned to his cheeks and his bite healed. He slowly turned human. Just as he wanted.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Everybody backed up a second and took a deep breath, considering everything that had happened that day. Rebekah helped Freya get Finn upstairs, Kol left to find Davina, and Elijah followed Katherine out. Klaus and Caroline turned to each other, meeting each other's eyes from across the room, for the first time since he left town.

She practically ran into his arms. She wasn't seeking comfort or anything. She'd never even hugged Klaus before. She just missed him. He was a surprisingly good hugger. He was somehow soft, and warm, and held her tightly in his arms.

"Where's Hayley?" She asked as they pulled apart from each other.

"She stayed to help some wolves," he told her. "The ones Lucien has been experimenting on."

She nodded, and mused to herself. "Kai Parker," she said. "He was a sociopath who had a thing for Bonnie. They were left alone together for months. He hurt her, I know that. If he's alive again, then… I might have to go home. Or call Bonnie here. I don't know. Apparently Cade poured three of those serums. One for Lucien, one for himself. The other one must be for Kai. I can't let Bonnie deal with that alone."

Klaus narrowed his eyes for a moment. "Kai didn't take one," he said. "Elijah told me that Cade took one, Lucien used one and ran off with the other."

"Wait, wait," Caroline said, looking lost. "So who's going to drink the third one?"

There was a brief pause as Klaus figured it out. "Aurora."

The two of them arrived at her tomb only seconds later, facing the broken brick wall with rage and fear. "She's gone," Caroline whispered. "She's gone, and she's some evil hybrid thing."

"Shit," Klaus whispered.

* * *

"You cured my brother tonight," Elijah mused, walking into Katherine's bedroom at hers and Caroline's condo. He had just walked her home, and she practically flew into bed, kicking off her heels and letting her shoulders slump. "You helped to save my family, as a great personal cost."

"You don't need to keep reminding me," she told him, scowling. She stood up to face him and looked pissed. "Trust me, it's all I can think about."

"All?" He asked. His hand reached up to gently stroke her bare arm, creating goose-bumps along her skin. She turned her head to look at his hand without a very impressed expression, and he pulled away, clearly sensing her hesitance.

Before he could turn away, however, she grabbed him by the tie and pushed him onto her bed. He sat down and she pulled his blazer off, throwing it to the floor. He reached up for her leather jacket but she swatted his hands away, sending a very clear message.

She was in control now.

He watched her as she undid his tie and threw that away too, before even touching her own clothes. She kicked off her jeans and jacket before climbing onto the bed with him, straddling his lap. She pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. Her nails scraped along his neck as she held him there. The second he tried to control the kiss she pulled away and grabbed his shirt, ripping it open and flinging buttons across the room. She smacked her hands into his chest and pushed him into lying down.

She leaned down to kiss his neck, grinding against the ever-growing bulge in his pants. He grinned as she played, and reached up to rip her shirt off. Instead of undoing her bra, he snapped the elastic, making her screech as it whipped her skin. He threw the broken lingerie across the room as Katherine bit his neck as a punishment.

He removed his belt and place it to one side before undoing his pants. She reached down to stroke his free member, teasingly.

"Hurry up, or I'll take over," Elijah warned her. Katherine just giggled until he picked his belt back up and whipped her ass with it, making her cry out before finally sinking down onto his cock.

He groaned in pleasure and she just grinned, breathily. She started riding him, grinding around him. He reached down and flicked her clit, making her moan and grow wetter as her heat rushed to her core. He rubbed between her folds, gently encouraging her to pick up the pace. He reached up with his other hand squeezed her breath, rolling her nipple between his fingers and pinching, mixing the perfect amount of pain with pleasure.

"Oh God!" She moaned as she came around him, her nails scraping down his chest as they did his neck. She slowed down as shocks rolled through her body.

Elijah flipped them over, holding her legs open wider and pumping into her faster and harder, building her up for another release while seeking his own. He leaned down and kissed her neck, hitching her legs further up his waist.

The next time she came was with him, in unison. They paused in a mess of groans and moans before he pulled out of her and rolled over, lying next to her and panting slightly.

"So, er…" Katherine mused, waiting for her bones to work again, "I guess we're good?"

Elijah nodded slightly. "We are _really_ good," he answered. Katherine laughed but placed a finger to her lips when she heard the front door go.

Caroline's home.

Katherine sat up and put her kimono around her shoulders. She got to her feet and shook her curly hair out, flipping it as she turned back to face Elijah. "Make yourself comfortable," she said. "I'm going to step outside and get some fresh air."

She stepped out on the porch in her bare feet, and the cold air hitting her felt like somebody stabbing her in the stomach. She'd been holding it in for hours. The pain, the worry, the torment even. But with the rush of emotions she faced with Elijah bought everything back.

She was doomed. With no hope of escape.

There was no more cure. Cade was stronger than ever. He was coming for her. And there was nothing she could do to protect herself anymore. Nowhere to run. No way to survive.

She curled up on the steps of the porch and finally, silently, allowed herself to cry.

* * *

 **AN: Hours to write, seconds to review! -Izzy x**


	18. Chapter 17

**AN: Two chapters in one day. I am spoiling the lot of you.** **-** **Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen – The Originals 3x18**

Kai Parker had arrived in New Orleans a couple days later, according to their people, and Klaus payed a visit to Camille first thing in the morning, to ensure that she was still safe considering Kai's arrival and Aurora's return. She was, and he was not invited in to her home. And afterwards, Klaus found himself at a little music festival New Orleans was hosting, with live jazz and big dancing crowds. There was stalls with games and salespeople behind them. But the person he was looking for was in the centre of the dance ground, wearing a loose white tank top and pink shorts, a plastic cup of beer in her hand, and her perfect blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders.

"Hello love," Klaus greeted, pushing through the crowd and resting a hand on her lower back. "Do you think it's safe to be out in such an attention-seeking crowd, with my ex on the loose and very willing to murder you?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "As long as you still like me, I don't think it's safe anywhere," she reasoned, poking him in the chest. "But I would like to have a little fun, followed by our guaranteed destruction. Have a beer, Klaus. Join the party."

"I prefer champagne," he told her. "I, for one, respect our traditions as a couple, sweetheart."

Caroline laughed a little too loud for a completely sober vampire. "Cheeky," she commented, finishing off her beer "You know, Klaus. I really resent the degrading nickna-"

"Sh," he ordered, holding up a finger to silence her. She fell quiet and looked around with him, for the person he's so briefly heard.

In the crowd stood Lucien. He watched Klaus and Caroline with a slight smile, and disappeared when some man passed between them.

Klaus growled and turned back to Caroline. "Wait here," he requested.

"Hah!" Caroline smirked, following him as he walked away.

They followed Lucien into an alleyway and Klaus pulled out a very special weapon from his coat. Papa Tunde's blade. He looked around as he walked, hearing only the slight drizzle of rain that was starting over New Orleans, and the footsteps of Caroline beside him. He turned around and almost jumped, coming within inches of his foe.

He barely had time to raise his hand before Lucien flipped him, throwing him across the alleyway. He landed in a crouch and looked up just in time to see Lucien punch Caroline so hard her neck snapped. Klaus growled and angled the weapon.

"Finally," Lucien mused. "Some privacy. Hello, Nik."

"Not bad," Klaus commented, getting to his feet. "Perhaps I'll return the favour." He ran at Lucien, but every time he thrusted the blade forward, Lucien managed to dodge it. He punched Klaus in the jaw, and the hybrid fell back again. He fell back into a nearby car, smashing the window and spitting up blood.

Lucien jumped onto the hood and growled down at him. "Do you see now?" Lucien asked, almost sadly. "Old friend. I may not have had much of a choice, but I still chose this. I shall still relish in it. You cannot beat me."

"Defeated at the hands of a stable boy," Klaus snarled, sarcastically. "I sincerely doubt it."

Lucien smirked. "I'll have my moment," he promised. "But you still have a role to play in the prophecy I aim to fulfil." He grinned, sadistically. "You're going to help me get Elijah," Lucien claimed.

Klaus flipped Lucien off of the car and jumped him with the weapon. Lucien just grabbed his wrist and held him steady, as if beating his Original Hybrid strength was easy. He raised his other hand and pushed the weapon with all his force. "I'm not going to let you hurt my brother," he informed Lucien.

"Sadly," Lucien mused, "you don't have a choice." He twisted Klaus's wrist around to aim the weapon at himself. The blade sank into his body and he fell to his knees, his bones turning to liquid inside of him.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Klaus woke up to the burning sensation of having Papa Tunde's blade pulled from his ribcage. He screamed in pain and looked around wildly for Caroline. He was chained to a wooden pole, kneeling on Lucien's floor. Aurora observed them from a safe distance, her arms crossed. Caroline was a few feet next to him, her arms held up and chained together, stretching her out and making it so that if she rested tip-toe stance then her arms would pop from their sockets.

"Hey Klaus," she greeted awkwardly as he woke up. "How you doing?"

Klaus banged on his chains, trying to break free to reach her.

"Oh, I doubt you can get past these," Lucien mused, inspecting the metal. "What do you think? Too tight?"

"I think it's perfect," Aurora replied, playfully stepping forward.

Lucien got to his feet and placed the dagger on a nearby table. "These chains and that wood," he told him, "were crafted by the ancient Egyptians. They suppressed so much evil. Nothing supernatural can escape. Not even you."

"Let her go," Klaus ordered, growling. "I'm your enemy. She has nothing to do with this. Let. Her. Go."

Lucien smirked, washing his hands and moving to lean on Klaus's shoulders. "Oh, I think not. She has every part of this. Everything that is her is you, and everything that is you is her." He straightened up and exclaimed brightly: "You're a package deal! And Aurora wants you both."

"Your new upgrade has made you delusional," he claimed. "Almost as bad as her." He gestured to Aurora, who scowled. "At least not you're truly a pair. I'll be sure to scatter both your ashes in the same patch of bog."

Lucien pushed the wood into Klaus's neck and smirked. "Is that a hint of fear in his voice?" He asked Aurora, who nodded. "Usually your threats are so much more convincing. I wish I could grant the same wish to you and Caroline, but I intend to keep you very separate."

"What do you want?" Caroline demanded. "Let's get to the damn point already."

"Ooh, she is bossy," Aurora said, laughing. "I can almost see why Niklaus is so beaten and yet not yet broken, with her cheering him on with her short skirts and pom-poms." She stepped forward and grinned. "But we have not yet started. All I need to do is take this," she held up a vial of Freya's blood, "and I too shall be your better. And you have no idea the torment you'll endure then, for what you did to my brother. And to me." She stepped forward and bent down to hold his chin. "I will take exquisite pleasure from killing you myself. Just after making you watch the painful, slow death of poor, sweet little Caroline."

Klaus leaned forward to bite her, scaring her enough to withdraw her hand.

Lucien grabbed his jacket and headed toward the door. "Clearly you three have a lot to discuss," he mused. "I'll leave you to it. I have another appointment to make." He walked around to Aurora and pulled her up to her feet. They swayed together in a slight dance as he said his goodbyes. "Have your fun with Caroline," he mused. "But keep Nik alive. I would hate to miss his death." He let Aurora go and left the apartment.

She turned from Nik to Caroline and smiled slightly. "I think I'll start with you," she said, pulling out a small wooden stake and lifting it to Caroline's head. Caroline cringed as Aurora poked her eyelid with it, before dragging it along behind her ear, forcing her to bleed into her hair. Caroline felt the burn of vervain in the wood, and held back her screams for as long as possible.

Which wasn't very long.

"How the hell did we get put on baby duty?!" Katherine demanded, as Rebekah stopped for the fourth time to check on Hope in the pram. "We're supposed to be hunting down a psychopath, here!"

"Hayley and Camille are on a rescue mission from even bigger psychopaths," Rebekah reminded her, "Elijah's with Lucien. Finn and Freya are stuck in a trance. I guess we're the safest option for this child today."

Katherine looked down at Hope and blinked. "You have no chance of growing up normal," she claimed.

"Shut up," Rebekah growled. "Don't be a bitch." She straightened up and moved back around to handlebar, pushing her niece forward. "Besides, I can protect her from Kai."

Katherine huffed and followed her through the busy streets of New Orleans, a scowl plastered across her face. "You know, I did save your ass. And I am kind of _with_ your brother, if you know what I mean. You can be a little nicer to me."

"You stole my body and broke my brothers heart!" Rebekah snapped. "He was much happier with Hayley and Gia."

"And yet," Katherine mused, "he keeps coming back to me."

Rebekah glared at her, furiously. "You kno-"

"Cute kid," chimed in a new voice. The two girls stopped bickering and looked up at the newcomer. Young, clean-shaven, smiling brightly and mischievously. Kai bent down to grin at Hope, making the baby laugh. "Babies are so… poetic."

"Don't bother elaborating," Katherine told him. "I'm guessing you're Kai?" She lifted her hand and performed a spell Freya taught her, one that forced his spine to straighten up, so he was not in so close proximity to the baby. "I swear, I'll kill you right now."

Rebekah stepped around the pram and shoved Kai backwards, blocking his view of Hope. "What do you want with Lucien?" She demanded.

Kai paused before laughing. He flicked his hand, shoving Katherine into a nearby building. He flicked his other hand, and Rebekah's neck went with it. The blonde dropped to the floor, and Kai scooped her up.

"Wait, what's happening?" Katherine stepped forward and raised her hands, but Kai easily stopped her magic.

"Lucien took something of mine," he told her, thoughtfully. "My dose of the serum. I want it back before he gives it to someone who doesn't deserve it. Because then Cade can kill me. And I am not going back to hell."

"How does that have anything to do with Rebekah?" Katherine demanded.

"I'm going to take her until you find my serum," he informed her, grinning. "And if you don't, I'll dagger her and throw her into the ocean, your alliance with Klaus will break, and Elijah will hate you forever. Good luck!"

* * *

Elijah arrived on an empty dancefloor, the stage against one wall devoid of any musicians. He could vaguely hear the part from outside, but was easily distracted by the arrival of Lucien, who landed before him. "Such a treat being in New Orleans, this time of year," he mused. "But alas, for all of today's talent, nothing quite compares to watching Ella and Louis perform live."

"Yes, what a wonderful world that was," Elijah replied. "Give me my brother before your world becomes significantly less wonderful."

Lucien smirked. "I need something from you, first," Lucien informed him, stepping forward. "A brother for a brother, as it were. You see, I may not have chosen this life for myself, but I do wish to embrace it. With Aurora. Who will refuse until her brother is safe and sound. So, you can tell me how to find him, or I'll kill you."

Elijah narrowed his eyes slightly. "Yes, forgive me if I'm mistaken," he said, stepping forward himself, "but I thought you claimed to, ah, have no choice. As if you wanted to be on our side. Please, Lucy, do explain."

There was a pause before the younger vampire – or weird hybrid thing – pulled up a chair and crossed his legs as he sat down. He rested his hands in his lap and gestured to Elijah to sit. He didn't. And so Lucien ignored him, and began to tell his account.

"I died," he started, surprising Elijah. "1964, I died when one of the Five, came to Bora Bora. And for all my wrongdoings, I wound up in eternal torment."

"And instead of excepting your punishment," Elijah guessed, "you made a deal with the devil? You were a… what is the term these days? A pissbaby?"

Lucien didn't laugh. That worried Elijah. Whenever insulted, Lucien would always feign amusement, thinking so highly of himself that any rudeness would be deemed silly. Instead, however, Lucien just looked lost.

"You honestly don't get it, do you?" He asked, crossing his arms. "Katerina was there, was she not? Did you never sit down with the woman you claim to love so much, and ask her about her experience? Do the two of you ever communicate at all?" He waited for a reply, but Elijah provided none, so he got to his feet. "Torment means torment, Elijah. I understand that the word, along with the words torture and hell, are so commonly used today, that they have lost all meaning. So let me try and explain what I truly mean." He stepped forward and took a deep breath, lost in ever-so-painful memories. "I forgave Tristan, for his torture was sex compared to Hell. I have spent centuries in torture-endurance-training. I can handle regular torture for years. But if Cade was trying to get information out of me, I would have told him in a heartbeat. When I returned, it took me a week to stop shaking, and to remember how to say words. Two weeks for me to remember my own name. Hell isn't easy, Elijah."

Elijah blinked, his face falling. "You wanted out."

"I _needed_ out," Lucien corrected. "I took the exact same deal anybody would make. I would love to see you refuse it, after fifty years of that. All I had to do, was find Katerina and Markos, and I would be free."

Elijah paused and sat down on the stage, straightening his jacket. "Why would the devil grant freedom to two of his subjects in exchange for two more?"

"Markos and Katerina just died," Lucien replied. "I have paid my penance. In fairness, Kai has died recently as well, but I get the feeling Cade just didn't like him. Have you ever spoken to the bloke? Unbearable! But anyway, we worked together to trace them to New Orleans. We lost Markos for a while, when he inhabited Tristan. But Katerina made no effort to hide herself. She just snuggled up in your arms, secure in her protection, with her damn doppelganger blood keeping Klaus at her side. We needed to get you out of the way. To kill the lot of you."

"I-" Elijah attempted, but failed at Lucien's interruption.

"The thing is, now Cade can't kill me," Lucien said, proudly. "This whole immortality business, this was insurance. The promise that I will never end up in his hands again. I told him where Katerina was, and how to kill you. And he gave me the serum. So I don't give a damn about you and your siblings anymore. All I want is Aurora. You're just… collateral damage."

* * *

"Get off of her!" Klaus yelled, desperately. His voice was weak and his throat was scratchy, but he needed to defend her with his dying breath. "Stop!"

Aurora paused before removing the weapon from Caroline's throat, turning to face Klaus instead. Caroline ceased in her cries and panted, thankful for the break. "I haven't even started," Aurora told him, before sighing. "How would you like to watch me burn?" She asked, thoughtfully. "That way you can watch me rise from the ashes, like a phoenix."

"It's a lovely image," Klaus replied. "But I think it might ruin Lucien's carpet. Wouldn't you rather get around to torturing me?"

Aurora looked confused. "I am," she answered, simply. "I mean, you may take pain like a pro, but you don't know how to handle emotion. The silly blonde cheerleader's your pressure point." She walked over to Caroline and smirked. "Give me an A," she mused, holding up her stake and slicing it unto Caroline's upstretched arm. "For arm!"

Caroline only gritted her teeth in pain, but refused to cry out. "Stop it!" Klaus demanded, relentlessly. "I said stop."

"Give me a U," Aurora continued, moving the blade south, "for uterus." She stabbed Caroline's abdominal a couple of times, letting the blood soak through her shirt. "Give me an R," she continued. "For rectis capitis!" She reached around Caroline and sliced at her back muscles, making her finally cry out in pain.

"Please!" Klaus begged, furiously.

"Be quiet!" Aurora snapped. "I'm trying to spell my name. Now what body part starts with O?"

"Aurora stop!" Klaus pleaded.

She rolled her eyes. "Or what? You'll kill me? Enact the serum? Turn me into Lucien's equal? Think about all the mean things I can do to Caroline then? Not the wisest strategy for her survival…"

"Is this what you want?" Klaus demanded. "You do realise that becoming like him will only expand on your already-substantial misery? Lucien cannot save you from yourself. Nor could Tristan. Nor could I! You spent centuries trying to cure your madness, and yet, you're still no closer."

"Ovaries!" Aurora decided, grabbing two clean stakes and slamming them into Caroline at once. "A little personal, perhaps, but not many body parts begin with O." Caroline cried out in pain and surprise that time, and Klaus turned away, not wanting to see how red her pretty white shirt had become. "You see what happens when you provoke me, Nik?" Aurora asked, leaving the stakes inside of her and moving away to get another one. "I need another R."

"I'm sorry!" Klaus exclaimed, his strategy shifting in seconds. "I didn't mean that. I meant to say that… Lucien could never do for you, what I could. I could truly help you, Aurora. If you'll let me."

"Mental illness doesn't go away when some pathetic white boy says _I love you_ ," Aurora informed him. "Otherwise, I would be cured by now." She glared at him for a second before turning back to Caroline and grinning. "Oh, I know. Ribs!" She buried both hands into Caroline's stomach and reached up. Klaus could hear the sound of Aurora grinding her bones into ash, and it seemed as though Caroline was done with screaming. She was completely winded. He looked to her face for a second, and saw the tears rolling down her cheeks, as Aurora played with her.

"Stop it!" Klaus tried again, knowing it was pointless. "Aurora please!"

Aurora retracted her hands and grabbed a nearby kitchen knife, splashing it with a drizzle of vervain and grinning. "Arteries," she mused. She cut open both of Caroline's wrists and watched the blood run down her arms, into her hair and shoulders. "Whoa," Aurora said, retreating, and pulling the stakes out of Caroline's abdomen. "That was fun! I get why cheerleaders always seem so perky."

"Bitch," Caroline whispered, clearly too weak to try to say anything harder.

Aurora just laughed. "What's your favourite chant, Caroline?" She asked, playfully. "Go on, show us! Do it for us!" She growled when Caroline didn't reply. Aurora reached her knife up and dragged it along Caroline's collarbones. "Do I have to spell your name, too? It's quite long, isn't it?"

"G-g-give me an L!" Caroline cheered, weakly. "For legs!"

There was a moment of pause as Aurora's face fell, trying to figure out what Caroline meant. But the cheerleader was pulling her legs up. The chains around her ankles dug into her bone, but Caroline gritted her teeth and pushed through it, freeing her legs. She lifted them up and used them to snap Aurora's neck, before the redhead could even figure out what was happening.

Klaus was very grateful for Caroline's choice of shorts. Now was not the time for an erection, but he couldn't help but admire the flexibility and strength of her long, tan legs. He wondered vaguely, what it would be like to be pinned to the bed, her legs on either side…

"Bloody hell," he said, as Aurora's body dropped to the floor.

"Never make fun of a cheerleader," Caroline advised him, panting with her lack of strength.

Klaus blinked. "I thought these chains were cursed in Ancient Egypt," he reminded her.

"Yours are," Caroline agreed. "But how many magical chains do you think Lucien has lying around? No, they were reserved for you, and I, as a _baby vampire_ , only got stupid vervain ones." She sounded bitter at her status in this world. "But Lucien didn't take into account my six years as a cheerleader and my childhood of ballet."

"Can you get out of the top ones?" Klaus asked, eagerly awaiting her freedom.

As a reply, Caroline curled her body upwards, like a sloth. She linked her healing ankles into particularly large metal hoops to take her weight from her wrists. She twisted her hands around o detangle the chains and fell to the floor, with an undignified huff. Klaus couldn't help but grin widely and proudly.

Caroline ran over to Lucien's fridge and found a wine bottle with human blood in it. She swigged some down herself, and them held the bottle out for Klaus to drink. When he did, she started pulling out draws and looking between couch cushions.

"There's got to be a key or something, to get you out of those," she told him, as she searched.

"No!" Klaus told her. "Go. Leave, before Lucien comes back or Aurora wakes up."

Caroline rolled her eyes and found her bag, pulling out her phone and texting Elijah to stall Lucien. "The serum won't work with a snapped neck," Caroline told him, simply. "Since she's not really dead, you know? And I can take her as normal."

"But Lucien-"

"Is with Elijah," Caroline told him. "And I'm not leaving here without you."

* * *

Night began to fall over New Orleans as the rain got heavier and heavier, turning into a small storm. Finn and Freya had not come out of their power trance, Hayley and Camille had not yet returned with Klaus and Caroline, and Elijah was still out with Lucien. Katherine was sat alone in the courtyard, trying to do a locator's spell for the serum using Freya's blood.

She doubted very much it would still be on Lucien. The first thing Katherine had done with the cure was hide it, and great minds thought alike. But there was nothing. "Freya!" Katherine shouted again, up the stairs. "Come on, I need you!"

No reply.

Crap.

Katherine screwed up the map and threw it to the floor, getting angrily to her feet and pacing back and forth. She'd have to tell Kai all she knew, and beg for Rebekah back, praying that her lousy info was good enough.

Which it wouldn't be, because Kai was a supposed psychopath.

Katherine walked past the playmat during her pacing and noticed it's emptiness. "Hope?" She called, rolling her eyes and heading towards the kitchen. The baby always stalked off in there after she got bored, or wanted to walk.

But she wasn't in there, either.

Katherine narrowed her eyes and circled the bar, checking the parlour and under the staircases. "Hope?" She called again as she finished her search.

It was too late that she noticed it; the wide open front gate.

She remembered closing and locking it as soon as she returned back with Hope. Which could only mean one thing.

"Kai," she whispered.

She grabbed a thin black hoodie that belong to Hayley and threw it over her shoulders as she ran out of the compound. "HOPE!" She screamed as she made it out onto the street. The street partyers had all gone home due to the rain, and so the street was cold, dark an empty. It was hard to see in the rain, but Katherine looked around frantically nonetheless.

She saw a dark figure, just turning around the street corner, a bundle of something in their arms. "HOPE!" Katherine called desperately, taking off down the street. Her heels dug into her feet painfully, and she slipped on the wet street, but despite the obstacles in her way, she could not remember ever running so fast.

Even when running from Elijah and Klaus's henchmen, she'd still been slower than she was in the rain in New Orleans that night.

"KAI STOP!" Katherine begged, knowing he could hear her from wherever he was. "KAI!"

She tried to pull the hood up as she ran, to block her already-soaking hair from the rain. She held it down as she ran, as the fabric tried to blow back with the wind.

Her breathing came out more as a sob as the panic started to kick in. She reached the corner and looked around again, calling out. "HOPE!"

It was pointless to call the baby's name, but it seemed right at the time.

"KAI!" She tried. She didn't know where to run when she met the crossroads, so all she could do was hope that this was where Kai wanted to make the exchange. "KAI PLEASE!"

"KAI!" Came a mimicking voice. The witchpire came out of a nearby alleyway, holding the hand of a walking Hope Mikaelson. At least she was wearing her coat and hat in the storm. "HOPE!" Kai continued, laughing. "You sound desperate. Why? She's not your daughter. That one's dead."

They were on opposite sides of the road, and Katherine started crossing, but she stopped in her tracks and fell to her knees when Kai's fangs extracted, and he grinned at Hope's throat.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Katherine demanded. "She's a baby! She has nothing to do with this! Kai, please!"

Kai just smiled, looking at Hope and calling to Katherine. "Just tell me where my serum is," he requested. "And Hope can come home. I'll be sending Rebekah on her way shortly enough. I felt she wasn't motivation enough, you know?"

"Aurora de Martel!" Katherine told him. "Lucien wanted the serum for her. So they can be together. She's probably taken it, but I don't think she's killed herself yet. She's still playing games. If you find her fast, then you can drain her blood, and the serum will be in your veins, like the cure. There's still time, but you need to leave now."

Kai didn't react to this straight away. He just pulled funny faces despite his fangs at Hope. Finally he spoke. "Could I find her at Lucien's place?" He asked, simply.

"Yeah! She's holding Klaus and Caroline there," Katherine told him.

Finally, Kai sighed and let go of Hope. "Go to your auntie Kat," he told her, nudging her in the right direction. Hope started taking tiny steps to reach her, through a small puddle, and Katherine ran towards her, just as a car did – speeding around the corner.

Katherine threw out her hand and the car flipped over, slamming into a nearby shop and breaking through the façade. Katherine sighed in relief at her magic, and scooped Hope up in her arms. She looked up to Kai, but he was gone. Katherine didn't bother to hunt him down. Instead, she just got Hope home as quickly as possible.

* * *

Just as Caroline had finished ransacking the living room, she jogged into the kitchen and started pulling out draws and throwing things out of the fridge. "God, knowing my luck today, it's going to be in Lucien's underwear draw, or something," she mused, unhappily. "How much do you want to bet?"

"Caroline, go," Klaus insisted, from his entrapment. "Before she wakes up."

Caroline had the nerve to roll her eyes at him, ignoring his demand and continuing her search. Her head snapped up, however, when she heard the familiar ding of an elevator door. She straightened up and readied one of Aurora's stakes.

"It can't be Lucien," she told Klaus, quietly. "Freya and Finn have done a spell to keep him trapped and torture him." She inched over to the doorway and opened up the big, heavy golden doors, as Camille turned to the threshold, narrowing her eyes at Caroline, who sighed in relief. "Oh, it's you."

"What's going on?" Camille asked, clearly confused that Caroline was up and walking. "Where's Klaus?"

Before Caroline could reply, the elevator opened up again and Hayley ran at her, pouncing on Caroline and knocking her to the floor, growling. She backed up a second and blinked, sitting up. "Caroline?" She asked, still straddling the blonde. "Wait, I think I missed something."

"Yeah," Caroline said. "The fact that I already took Aurora out. She's over there with a snapped neck. Can you, like… get off me now?"

Hayley nodded and got to her feet, helping Caroline up and checking her over once. "Are you okay?" She asked, before turning to Klaus.

"We're fine," Caroline answered. "I snapped Aurora's neck."

"Well, I'll finish the job," Hayley volunteered, dropping her fangs and walking over to the limp, pixie-light red head, grabbing her arm with one hand and pulling her up, digging her hand into her chest.

"Stop!" Klaus ordered from where he was. "She drank the serum."

Before Hayley could reply, there was another trusty ding of an elevator. They looked between each other, clearly unsure of the latest guest.

Hayley and Camille cried out on screams of pain. Hayley dropped Aurora, and she and Cami were lifted off their feet by invisible nooses. They clutched at their throats, and Klaus and Caroline exchanged a worried look.

Kai Parker came around the corner, his hands outstretched as he chanted, quietly. He flicked his wrists and his victim's necks broke. Hayley and Cami dropped to the ground and Kai stormed inside, ignoring the other guests and picking up Aurora. "Hello, Clarice," he said absent-mindedly to Caroline.

"Wait!" Caroline called, but it was pointless. Kai bit into Aurora's neck and drank.

He drained her entire body of blood until she was limp and pale. Then he dropped her to the floor. He turned to Caroline and grinned sadistically. "I worked for this serum," he told her, wiping the blood from around his mouth. "I _SUFFERED_ for this!" He shook his head in disbelief. "No more."

He flashed over to Aurora's display of wooden stakes and picked one up at random, aiming it towards his heart.

"NO!" Caroline yelled. She ran towards him and pounced on him, burying her face in his neck and biting down on his arteries. He tried to get her off, but she was too quick, and before he knew what hit him, his blood was completely drained. He passed out from the blood loss, not really dead, but like his neck was snapped.

"Caroline," Klaus whispered, in a state of shock. "You just…"

"The serum can't go away," Caroline told him, looking bewildered herself. "We can't prevent Aurora and Kai from killing themselves forever. The serum needs to be somewhere, and… Now it's somewhere safe."

"But now, Kai, Aurora, Lucien even," Klaus reminded her, "even maybe Cade, they're all going to be coming after you. I can't protect you from all of them."

"But I could," she remembered, thoughtfully. Clearly lost in her own daydream. "I just need to die."

* * *

The compound became surprisingly quiet when everyone returned home. Katherine told them all what happened to Hope, and Klaus and Hayley gushed over their little girl for the next hour, planning Kai's death as they played with her. Finn had gone upstairs with Katherine to try and find Kol, and Elijah and Rebekah retreated to have heart-to-heart on his romantic choices. Caroline went upstairs to wash the blood from her hair, and Cami went home.

Freya walked through the courtyard, considering turning in for the night when she noticed the front gate. Lucien was leaning against it, holding a bottle of whiskey in his hand and swaying slightly. Freya rolled her eyes and walked up to the gate, annoyed by his presence.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, crossing her arms when she reached him. She didn't open the gate; they stood with it in between them. So close, yet, practically on different planets to each other. "If Klaus sees you here-"

"Please," Lucien scoffed, drunkenly. "He couldn't kill me if he tried. But you, your naughty little mix, you really hurt me today. Good for you."

"I'll do it again," she threatened, smirking slightly. "If you don't walk away and get drunk somewhere else."

Lucien studied her for a minute, his eyes softening despite her hard threats. "Aurora never loved me," he told her, matter-of-factly. "She's been faking this whole time. Using me." He took a swig from the glass bottle and looked down.

Freya held back for as long as she could before releasing a pitiful sigh. "I'm sorry, I guess?" She said, awkwardly. "I mean, we all knew she was a crazy bitch from day one. I don't know what you expected."

"Every decision I ever made," Lucien said, "I made for her. For us. I never chose to come back from the damned, Freya. But when I did, I was given the opportunity to build the nicest life with her. For all the sins I committed in a past life, all I wanted was us. I was a fool."

"We're all fools for love," she said, plainly.

"And the worst part," Lucien continued, pointing a finger at her, "is how much I gave up for her. I should have been on the side of the Mikaelsons all along. You and I, we could have had something very special. But I was manipulated into giving that up for her."

Freya scoffed. "Please. All we had was flirtation."

"And chemistry," Lucien added, "and sexual tension. But we had something more than that, and you know it." He hiccoughed slightly and she looked down. Not agreeing with him, but unable to deny it either. "You felt it," Lucien added. "We could have been epic. I'm sorry for ruining that."

"I'll live," she insisted.

He nodded, thoughtfully. "Yeah, you will. I'm going to leave town for a little bit. Tell your family I won't be causing any more trouble for them. Goodbye, Freya Mikaelson."

* * *

Camille was just making herself some warm milk before bed, thinking about that day. She'd gone into Lucien's apartment, intent on saving her true love, and she had made no difference. All she did, was get hurt by some witchpire, and watch as Caroline saved the day. Klaus had been so impressed by the cheerleader.

Camille was losing him.

There was a knock on her door, and she walked over to answer it, in no mood for more daily pain, but the man in the hallway was a stranger. "Hello," she greeted, guessing that it was some human ongoing. "What can I do for you?"

"Camille O'Connell," the man mused. "My name is Cade. I don't think we've met."

She blinked, her memory just locating that name. "The devil," she whispered. "The guy who recruited Lucien and Kai in the first place." She took a deep breath. "You can't come in."

"Of course not," Cade replied, simply. "See, I'm a mixture of a lot of things. Witch, psychic, demon. There's some sort of werewolf venom in my bite, but I do have some vampire in me. I will be needing an invite, and since you're a vampire, the lease would be in somebody else's name."

"Don't come back here," Camille told him, going to close the door.

"Of course, it would have to be somebody close by," Cade continued, leaning against the doorframe. "In case a friend popped around for tea. Neighbours are close by." He looked around the other front doors on Camille's apartment floor. It was a small building, with no more than ten tenants. It wouldn't take long for Cade to identify which one. Especially with his psychic abilities, he probably already knew.

"Please don't," Camille whispered. "They're good people. All of them."

There was a pause before the whole building exploded. Windows shattered, walls came crashing down, flames erupted across the façade. Camille jumped at the suddenness of the explosion. Everything fell down in rubble except from her apartment. Everything that belonged to Camille was perfectly intact, and everything else was destroyed.

Cade stepped across the threshold as her ears stopped ringing. Everyone was dead.

Camille ran towards her dark objects, but Cade intercepted her, pulling her arm to his mouth and biting. She screamed out in pain, but he didn't stop.

* * *

Klaus stepped into the guest bedroom and looked around. Caroline had thrown her bloody clothes in the trash, and the shower water was running in the adjoining bathroom. He wondered vaguely what she was going to wear when she dried off, but then decided that she was fine the way she was. His blood rushed south when he remembered what all her curves looked like, the perk of her plump breasts and round ass…

He took off his jacket and opened the door to the bathroom, looking at the thick shower curtains and leaning on the doorframe. "Hello, love," he called past the rushing water. "Have you made a decision yet?"

"No," Caroline replied, clearly thoughtful. "It's a big decision. And it's late at night. If I still feel the same way tomorrow, then… I don't know."

"The same way as what?" Klaus asked, crossing his arms. "To which choice are you currently partial towards?" Stay as a vampire, the being she'd struggling with, and became so confident and happy with; or go for an upgrade a risk changing all of that. Going back to square one.

There was a pause before Caroline replied. "If it were your choice," she replied, "what would you have me do?"

Klaus clicked his tongue, thinking it over. Truthfully, he was conflicted as well. On the one hand, he knew in advance that he'd be uncomfortable and paranoid with her being stronger than him, worried about what it would do to her mental health, and threatened by her newfound power, especially given their love-hate relationship. On the other hand, he couldn't object to her having more protection for herself, and more protection for his family, should she keep her old alliances. It was also selfish of him to want to keep her the way she was.

"If it were my choice," Klaus answered, eventually, "I'd want you to be comfortable and safe and happy, whatever form you're in. I do wish I could help you, Caroline, but this isn't my choice to make."

There was another pause before Caroline finally answered his question. "The choice in which I am partial towards," she mused, casually, "is the decision of asking you to join me in this shower."

Klaus raise his eyebrows, interested in the proposal. "As appealing as that sounds, you did earlier mention that it's too late to me making any big decisions."

Caroline laughed lightly as her words were used against her. "Klaus," she mused, fondly. "I didn't make that decision just now. I was thinking about it all day."

Klaus used his enhanced speed to get his clothes off as quickly as possible before jumping into the shower and grabbing her bare, wet hips. She was facing away from him, and he pulled her closer, until his hard length was pushing against her toned ass. He buried his lips into her neck, kissing and sucking her flesh.

She spun around to face him, locking her lips with his and already trying to take control.

But this could well be his last time to dominate her.

He dug his fingers into her hips and slammed her against the wall. She hissed at the cold tiles, be he ignored her, his head ducking straight down to her tits. He sucked on his nipples and bit around the flesh. He reached down and buried his fingers into her wet folds, rubbing and flicking her clit, making her moan as she ran her hands through his hair.

When she reached down to stroke his dick, however, he swatted her hand away and turned her around.

Klaus moved her arms, resting her hands against the tiles and pulled her ass outwards, so she was bent over.

"Think gentle thoughts, sweetheart," he purred as he angled his cock to her heat and slammed into her, making her gasp and moan at the same time. He set a hard, fast pace as he pumped in and out of her. He watched her arms shake with the force and he grinned to himself.

"Oh God!" She moaned as she neared her finish. Klaus had a little more self-control, however, and kept his climax at bay for round two. Her legs trembled as she finally came around him, hitting the wall and twitching with aftershocks.

She fell to her knees and Klaus wondered if he had really fucked her so hard she couldn't stand, but then she faced his dick and he grinned, realising what was happening. She looked up at him with her big bright eyes and her secretive smile before leaning forward and licking the tip of his hard penis.

He ran his hand through her wet hair as she leaned in further to run her tongue up the length of his cock before sucking on the head. He grinned down at her as she bobbed her head down his long length, taking in all of him with apparent ease.

When she backed out again she swirled her tongue around his tip before throwing his member back again.

He groaned as her tight, hot throat pumped around him. She gagged slightly as she picked up the pace, but she didn't stop, clearly determined to get him off.

"Fuck sweetheart," Klaus snarled as he came in her throat. She swallowed the load whole and licked any remnants off of his member before getting to her feet.

He picked her up as soon as she did, and carried her into the other room, throwing her down in the bed, and keeping her there all night long.

* * *

 **AN: Cami's dying, Klaroline's having sex. I loved writing this chapter. Let me know what you think in the reviews! -Izzy x**


	19. Chapter 18

**AN: Sorry for the short pause. I'm getting increasingly busy with exam work irl. I've also been editing this and re-writing a few things. I got rid of that Finn thing because I ended up hating that. Just a musing I wanted to try on for size, but it didn't really fit. I should be finishing the whole 'season 3' part of this fic over the weekend, and I'll let you know my plans for continuing it as soon as I actually have a plan. Enjoy.** **-** **Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen – The Originals 3x19**

Caroline had been awake for barely two minutes before Klaus's head lowered, and buried itself between her thighs, licking, sucking and biting her, making her moan in ways that nobody else had ever done before. Her fingers curled around the sheets and gripped them tight as she threw her head back.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah shoved Katherine against the cold shower tiles, the steam around them becoming irrelevant as the air grew hotter with them alone. His hand reached down to her ass, slapping her ass only once to get her to part her legs to he could angle his length and work his way inside of her. She released a breathy moan in response, arching her back.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Ten minutes later, after Caroline and Katherine had both come, their respectable boyfriends found themselves in the communal kitchen of their shared condo. Elijah in nothing but a towel, Klaus in nothing but his boxers.

The brothers paused for a second as they both noticed each other. They both thought the other had been at the compound, that morning, and had been too distracted with Katherine and Caroline to hear each other.

"Morning," Klaus greeted, awkwardly glancing over at the surprising number of tattoos Elijah had gotten since he last saw his big brother's bare chest.

Elijah just nodded once before finding food for Katherine. Klaus grabbed a number of blood bags and cringed at the cold replacement for his beloved beverage. He chucked one to Elijah and they went their separate ways without another word.

* * *

Klaus had just arrived back at the compound when Camille came bursting through the front gate, sounding completely panicked as she called his name. Klaus rolled his eyes at the sound. Couldn't he simply enjoy a morning not-so-shameful walk-of-shame? Now there was another damn problem.

"What is it?" He said, flashing into the courtyard to face her.

"Something happened," she said, very unhelpfully. "And you're going to be angry. But Cade wants you to be angry. He's trying to lure you into a trap."

"What did he do?" Klaus asked, stepping forward. So the devil himself was back in town, and had already started making trouble.

"Promise me you won't flip out and do something crazy," Camille pleaded, desperately. She kept rubbing her forearm as she spoke and Klaus's eyes flickered down to that spot. "Promise me?" She tried to hold her arm back, but Klaus reached for it and pulled her sleeve up to inspect the bite. The same bite Finn had been suffering from before he was cured. "Before you lose it," Camille whispered, reaching up to touch his face, pulling his gaze up to her eyes, "look at me. I love you. And I won't let you get yourself killed."

She swooned after she spoke, being unsteady on her feet. Klaus caught her in his arms and carried her into the compound. "I just needed you to know," she whispered, almost passed out already. "Even if it's unreturned, even if you love Caroline… I needed you to know."

"Don't you dare go there," Klaus ordered her. "Don't say goodbye. You're not dying today."

* * *

"Mind if I join you?"

Kol put down his drink and turned around to see Elijah, standing straight behind him, and moving to sit next to him. He took the drink from Kol's hand, and placed it far away. "In some cases," Elijah said, "alcohol helps with the temptations. But with you, brother, it simply makes you rowdy."

"What do you want, Elijah?" Kol demanded. "To help with something?"

"I'm certainly going to try," Elijah answered, simply. "To help you, of course. You're struggling with your bloodlust, and nobody in my family struggles alone. So today, I'm going to help you."

Kol scoffed, reaching for his alcohol and scowling as Elijah swatted his hand away. "I'm not some newbie vamp, Elijah," he reminded him, rolling his eyes. "I don't need to be told which is the best artery, or how to tell when they're about to die. I need help caring. And if I was going to give a damn, I would have done so centuries ago."

Elijah narrowed his eyes. "Last night you left town without even a goodbye. You had me worried." He sucked his teeth for a moment before continuing. "People know that cigarettes are bad for them, but they don't stop. They enjoy smoking too much. However, eventually people quit."

Kol laughed, slightly. "If you can find me a blood patch or a vampire rehab, then I'll try it," he admitted. "But-"

He was interrupted by the door to the bar being flung open, and a short, angry woman marching through. "How dare you?" Davina yelled. "How dare you leave without saying goodbye?!"

"How did you know I was here?" Kol asked, getting to his feet.

Now she scoffed. "I tried to use magic to find you, before realising that you were hiding in a place magic couldn't reach."

"Davina, you should go," he told her.

"Why did you leave without telling me?" She demanded. "Why did you come back, if you weren't going to tell me?" She scowled as Kol turned back to Elijah. "Why are you walking away from me?!"

"I didn't want to go!" Kol told her, angrily. "Nor was it my intention to come back. The ancestors won't let me leave. The second I got to the city limits, I started to desiccate. I'm cursed, love."

"There's got to be a fix," Davina said, as Kol stalked back to the bar. He reached for the alcohol, but again, Elijah's hand swatted him away. Kol glared at him, but Elijah just stared him down until he backed away. "Just, promise you'll never leave me again," she pleaded.

"I can't," Kol told her.

Davina opened her mouth to reply, but her phone rang from inside her pocket. "I'm kind of in the middle of something," she snapped, when she answered it. "Oh… is she- …. Yeah, okay… No, I'll meet you there." She hung up and turned to Elijah and Kol, addressing them both this time. "Cade's back. He bit Cami. We need to go and help her."

"I have bigger priorities," Elijah mused. "Family above all."

When Kol made no move to get up, Davina rolled her eyes and stormed out of the bar, scowling at the pair of them. Kol turned back to Elijah and sighed. "Women."

* * *

Katherine carried the little bottle until she found Klaus, in one of the compound's narrow hallways. "I've been working with Freya all morning," she told him. "This should help stop the spread of the infection." She held out the bottle and Klaus scowled.

"My talents do not extend to playing nurse-maid," he told her, snarling.

Katherine raised her eyebrow. "No, that's Caroline's role, right? The walls in our place are thin, remember? I had the misfortune of hearing your encounter with the blonde nurse last night…" She trailed off as Klaus glared at her, and changed the subject. "Do you care about Camille, Klaus?"

He paused, looking down. "I care about Caroline more," he mused, to himself. "But before she arrived in New Orleans… I don't know what transpired between Camille and I. Nothing romantic on my end, at least, but she did help me."

"Figure it out," Katherine advised him, pushing the glass bottle into his hand and watching him turn back to find his therapist.

* * *

They took Elijah's car. It was much nicer than any of theirs. Hayley drove, Rebekah called shotgun, and Caroline found herself pouting in the back seat. "Remind me again, why we bought her?" Rebekah mused, tapping her fingers on the dashboard. "She's not a hybrid, or an Original. Just a baby vampire. Collateral damage."

Caroline leaned forward and crossed her arms, thoughtfully. "Something tells me that if I die, I'll just bounce back, bigger and better than before. I have a knack to recover."

"She's coming," Hayley answered, "because despite being just a vampire, she's incredibly powerful." She reached back and tapped the underneath of Caroline's chin, fondly, making her scrunch up her nose and smile. "And besides, I like her."

"She likes me," Caroline whispered in Rebekah's ear, smirking.

Rebekah raised her eyebrows at Hayley. "Really? That whole neurotic, upbeat thing does it for you, does it?"

"We all need a little optimism," Hayley defended.

"Can we all stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Caroline asked as they pulled up in the bayou.

"Sorry, Caroline," Hayley said. They stepped out of the car and walked around to the front, facing each other and waiting for Hayley to lead the way. "Mary doesn't want vampires near her cabin. It's probably best if I just go alone."

"She does know that I'm Hope's aunt, right?" Rebekah asked. "She's my family as much as yours."

Hayley nodded, putting her hands in her back pockets. "Her grandson was supposed to be our family too." She turned around and headed towards her grandmother-in-law's hut, turning back briefly to call: "Don't kill each other, while I'm gone."

There was a pause after the wolf left them, where the two blondes just leaned against the front of the car, their arms crossed. Caroline looked over to see if Rebekah was looking at her. She wasn't, and when she caught Caroline's eye, they both turned away quickly.

"So, do you like, have a thing for brunettes or something?" Caroline asked, thoughtfully. "In women, I mean."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes, turning to face her, confused and outraged. " _What_?!"

"You like Hayley, well enough," Caroline reminded her, clicking her tongue and moving her hands to her hips. "Maybe I'm just wondering why you hate me."

The Original blinked. "It isn't because of your damn hair colour," she exclaimed.

"So what is it?" Caroline asked. "Go on, enlighten me."

Rebekah shrugged. "Hayley was carrying my niece at the time. My family. I had to look out for her because of that, and we went from there."

"Oh right," Caroline mused, nodding. "Okay, so what's your excuse for Davina?"

"I haven't spoken to Davina in months," Rebekah told her. "And I was her friend for a time, when she wasn't playing one of my brothers."

"It's a brother thing," Caroline determined. "Okay. So given that I did everything I could to push your brother away from me in Mystic Falls – and was in fact dating somebody else, don't you think you're being a little unfair in hating me?"

Rebekah blinked, pausing for only a second. "Well… no…"

"Yeah, I thought so," Caroline said, with a smirk. "Only, I'm going to be around for a while, so you're going to have to get over that whole hatred thing."

* * *

Elijah's method for helping Kol was pretty clever, and did not include Kol getting whacked upside the head. Even if it was intended to sting him emotionally. Elijah flashed around and compelled everyone in Rousseau's.

He had asked Kol what the most touching thing Davina has said to him was.

"I love you, Kol Mikaelson," Kol replied, thoughtfully.

Elijah raised an eyebrow at that. "Already?" He asked. "She was oblivious to your real face until a few days ago. She knew you for but a short couple of weeks before you died. You're moving quite fast."

"Just because it took you two bloody centuries until you told Katherine you loved her for the first time," Kol said, with a scoff. "Have you even said it since you reunited? Months ago?"

Elijah blinked. "No," he admitted. "It is irrelevant." He finished the conversation and flashed around the bar to compel the customers. Then he slit their wrists and allowed the smell to reach Kol.

And from there, that was the only thing Kol could focus on. "What the hell, Elijah?" He snapped. His fangs popped out automatically and the blood rushed to his eyes, turning them bloodshot. He pulled his face away from the thick red liquid that was pouring across their palms. "How is this supposed to be helping?"

"You'll see," Elijah said, moving to the bar and sitting down quite casually.

Kol growled and held himself back for as long as he could, which was only a few seconds, before pouncing on the nearest human and draining them. He drank so far, the poor girl reached her last breath in only a few seconds, and just before she died, she begged for her life in words that weren't her own.

"I love you, Kol Mikaelson," she said.

He pulled back in shock and turned towards Elijah, who merely peeked in his direction, curious about whether his little plan had worked. "What the hell is this?" Kol demanded, pushing the dying girl to the floor.

"You stopped," Elijah noted. "She's still alive."

"Yeah," Kol agreed, rolling his eyes. "But… what?"

Elijah smirked and got to his feet. "After a thousand years, you want to be good for Davina. She inspires you. You must carry that inspiration with you through the light, and through the dark. Not just when she's near, but especially when she's not. And to do that, you must carry her words with you." There was a pause as Kol just looked confused. Elijah gestured to the girl he'd dropped. "Now you can either keep feeding, or heal her."

There was a long pause before Kol bit into his wrist and hoisted the girl to her feet. "Okay," he mused, "I'll play along."

Elijah turned away as his phone rang, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Speak of the devil," he mused. Kol faced him as he answered the call. "Wrong Mikaelson, my dear."

"Yeah I know," Davina said on the other end of the line. "But while Kol is cursed, I kind of have to work with you. Listen, I found Cade. He was enjoying his newfound vampirism by drinking. Anyway, he insisted that there was no cure for Camille, but he also said something about Katherine."

"He wants her dead, that's not news," Elijah told her. "But since we became aware of his return, Katerina's agreed not to leave the compound until her, Freya and Finn find a way to kill him. You could always feel free to help."

"She isn't safe at the compound," Davina told him, worriedly. "Nobody is. Not Katherine, or Freya. Even you and Klaus and Rebekah. Cade said he could burn New Orleans to the ground with hell fire, if you don't hand Katherine over. I'm pretty sure you can't survive hell fire. It's kind of the one thing that can kill everything."

Elijah paused, clicking his tongue. "Where is Cade?" He asked.

"Pat O'Brien's bar," Davina answered. "St Peters. How are we going to kill him?"

Elijah smiled at that. "It's nice to hear you on our side," he told her. "I'll let you know." He hung up and turned back to Kol, slipping his phone into his pocket. "I have to go," he admitted. "I'll be back soon to check on you. Good luck."

"I can't believe Davina didn't call me," Kol mused, under his breath, as Elijah left him in the bar.

* * *

When Elijah arrived in the compound, everyone was already there. Davina sat with her head on Freya's shoulder, allowing herself to be comforted by the older witch. Hayley was sat on the floor, with Hope in her lap. Finn was in an armchair, nursing a glass of bourbon, and Marcel was pacing behind one of the couches. Vincent stood behind Hayley, with his arms crossed. Katerina was lying on that couch, with her head in Caroline's lap, looking surprisingly relaxed, compared to Caroline's agitation.

One by one, a number of them went upstairs to say their goodbyes. Vincent, Hayley, Marcel, Davina. Even Finn said something.

Katherine had nothing to say, and Caroline knew it wasn't her place. Elijah had respect for Camille, but didn't know her enough to truly mourn her.

So the three of them waited in the courtyard, until Caroline got to her feet to find Klaus, ignoring Elijah's protests. She caught him leaning over a balcony with a drink in his hand, looking completely still.

"Klaus," she whispered, walking up to touch his shoulder. He shrugged her off and she retreated her hand, looking down. "Are you…"

"Okay?" He finished for her, once she trailed off. "No." He turned around and threw his glass, shattering it against the brick wall and running a hand through his hair. "I once tried to get Aurora to kill her," he told Caroline. "To keep you safe. I didn't even _try_ to save the pair of you. Camille devoted years to trying to help me. And when she died, I was screwing you."

Caroline coughed, turning red. "I didn't think it meant that little to you."

Klaus finally looked her in the eye. "Don't trigger the serum," he pleaded. "Losing Camille that way – slowly and painfully with no hope – if I can't deal with that, then the last thing I need is another beast. I can't let anyone hold that kind of power. Not even you."

"That's not your decision to make, Kl-"

"Yes it is," he snapped, angrily. "Because it was my therapist who died. Because she cared about me and because those beasts exist in this world. I can think of six people who care about me, in this building alone. I can't bring another being into this world if it gets them hurt."

Caroline looked bewildered at that statement. "I would never hurt anyone in your family, Klaus," she promised. "I would only do this to protect you all from Kai or Cade himself. I'm on your side."

"So was Camille," Klaus grumbled. Then he took a deep breath before speaking a little more clearly. "Sweetheart, I'm asking you not to do this. For me. And for you. After all this time, becoming comfortable with vampirism, why risk it all now?"

Caroline held up a hand and shook her head. "No, do not manipulate me right now. Look, Klaus, you just lost Camille, and I understand that might be painful, so I'm not going to make any decision tonight, or at least until we properly talk about it. But I'm not going to make this choice based on what you want." She sighed and turned back inside. "I'm going to give you some space. Call me if you need anything."

* * *

Kol saw red. He saw nothing but red. He saw red until there was no more red to see.

The red from his rage, the red from the pools of blood around him. He felt the heat of all of his victims, until the heat left their body, along with every single drop of blood their owned, leaving them as cold, pale corpses.

Dozens of them. Scattered around the bar. On the bar, on the floor, on the stage and on the tables. The party was officially dead.

Kol looked around for any more, but not one of them so much as twitched. After a moment, he saw the movement of another body, and the heat that came from their blood, and Kol pounced on it, biting and draining them dry, ignoring their screams until they stopped struggling.

Only then did his vision start to clear, and his mind start to keep up with his fast hunger, and he noticed who he'd just killed.

"Davina," he whispered.

* * *

 **AN: I'm not entirely sure whether to turn Caroline or not, so let me know what you think in the reviews! -Izzy x**


	20. Chapter 19

**AN: Okay, after very conflicting reviews, I have decided to TEMPORARILY turn Caroline. So we can go through all the badass plotlines, but it's not a long term thing. That way, everybody wins.**

 **Also, about Katherine: I don't think it's particularly out-of-character for Katherine to fight for love. She did with Stefan, even when he hated her, so there's no reason she shouldn't with Elijah. However, she does get up to a little more mischief next chapter (will be uploaded tonight) -** **Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Nineteen – The Originals 3x20**

Kai strolled down the dark, empty street, throwing a scrunched-up packet of pork grinds over his shoulder. He pulled out his phone to check a text from one of his sources, but before he could even open WhatsApp, a tall dark shadow flashed before him and threw him against a nearby building, crumbling the façade with the force.

He instantly growled at his attacker but his fangs hid themselves and his head lowered when he realised who it was.

Cade strolled towards him, quite calmly considering his entrance. He even extended a hand and pulled Kai to his feet. "Malachai," he greeted with a smile. Kai did not return the warm welcome. "How has your time in New Orleans been spent?" Cade asked.

Kai swallowed, nervously. All it took was one bad second, for Cade to throw him back into hell. "I've been a busy man," he claimed. "I've found Katherine. Getting her is a little harder, but I'm working on it. I promise."

Cade took a deep breath, nodding thoughtfully. "Really?" He asked. "See, I heard a little differently. Apparently, you've been pursuing the serum, instead, and attempting to hurt Miss Forbes for taking it." There was a pause as Kai didn't meet his eye, or try to deny it. So Cade continued. "Funny, how instead of doing my bidding, you are trying to escape me."

"Relax," Kai said, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'm going to get Katherine, and I'm going to kill her. I promise."

"You better," Cade whispered, leaning forward. "You're still mortal, for the moment."

"I have a plan," he insisted, stepping forward. "We need to lure the Mikaelson's out of their home right? That's why you killed Caty Coonal or whatever-"

"Camille O'Connell," Cade corrected.

"Whatever," Kai repeated, shrugging it off. "She wasn't enough to lure them. But a sibling probably will be. Right? I'm thinking we get the youngest sister. Their most precious. You can threaten to bite her, and they'll come out of their den sooner rather than later."

"We need Rebekah," Cade summarised.

* * *

"I think I found a way to kill Cade," Freya announced, walking into the courtyard with a big book in her arms Vincent turned away from the comatose body of Aurora, which he and Katherine had been talking over until Freya arrived. "Last year, my mother tried to undo the Original spell she placed upon my siblings, in order to destroy them. All she needed was the witch who cast the spell." She pointed to Vincent, excitedly. "You created the serum, so according to my mother, you can turn Cade back. And then Klaus can rip his head off."

Vincent looked doubtful. "Freya, even before he was an Original, Cade was the devil himself. He couldn't be killed before. It was also never my power that cast that spell. The ancestors used me as a tool for some ugly magic that only the spirits have access to. I'm sorry, but nobody alive can tap into that." Before Freya could reply, Vincent's phone released a high-pitched ring. "Marcel's been blowing up my phone, hold on."

He turned away and Katherine faced Freya. "If we can hijack the ancestors, then we can do this," she claimed. "Killing Cade from there won't be a problem. When I left town, I didn't just fake my death and find the cure for Rebekah. I found a weapon to kill Cade."

Freya narrowed her eyes, confused. "Then why did you bother getting the cure from your doppelganger in Mystic Falls?" She asked. "I was thinking about extracting it from Finn, but if you have a better idea-"

"I don't actually have the weapon, but I found it," Katherine clarified. "It's protected. But we could be able to get it. You can focus on hijacking the ancestors. I'll find a partner in crime."

Before Freya could point out the impossibility of that situation, she stumbled, weakened by the recent spells. She gripped the table and Katherine stepped forward to steady her. "Is something the matter?" Elijah asked as he walked into the compound.

"I need a strand of your hair," Freya answered, plainly. "I'm working on an early-morning system. Cade has all the witch ancestors of New Orleans on his side. I need to know if they tried to magically interfere with any one of you."

Elijah plucked a hair from his head and handed it to his sister, walking around the table to join Katherine. "Freya, when we said no rest for the wicked, we didn't expect you to-"

"I'm up against centuries of dead witches," Freya interrupted, "who are apparently now strong enough to reach beyond the grave and shake the entire city on it's foundation. I'll rest when I send them all running back to hell."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Only a small while later, Kol and Marcel came by the compound, both clearly distressed and Kol covered in blood. They told Elijah what happened to Davina, and explained how they needed Freya's help. Freya, who was currently upstairs trying to regain her strength.

"We are at war," Elijah reminded his brother, clearly struggling with the awkward situation. "I despise this idea."

"Wrong answer," Kol said, angrily stepping forward.

"Hey, hey!" Marcel snapped, stepping between the Originals and pushing them apart from each other. "Come on, here."

Kol just growled at Elijah. "If you hadn't bloody left me alone in that bar in the first place," he snarled, "she'd still be alive! You know I couldn't handle myself. You promised to help me-"

"Hey!" Marcel yelled again, silencing Kol. "I know this is a war, Elijah, but I lost a lot of friends too. Today, I need your help."

Klaus joined them from a nearby stairwell, looking grim. "Then you shall have it," he declared. "Finn will help you this morning. When Freya has regained her strength, she shall join." He walked over to Kol and put a soothing hand on his brother's back. "Come on, Kol. Let's get you cleaned up."

Marcel turned to Elijah and nodded a thank you before following them.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Out of all the people I could be on watch with," Rebekah mused, leaning against the wall near the gate of the compound, "I have to be with _you_."

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual," Caroline replied, her voice bland and just slightly disgruntled. She was filing her nails as she leaned against the opposite wall, inspecting them for any signs of blood left over from her morning romp with the Strix. "You know," she mused, lifting her head to meet Rebekah's eye, "you could be a little nicer to me."

Rebekah just rolled her eyes, huffing slightly. "Here we go."

"I'm just saying," Caroline continued. "Klaus seems to like me."

"You think I'm afraid of him?" Rebekah asked. Then she smirked. "Do you think I'm afraid of you?" She asked, her eyes narrowing and her arms crossing. "Seriously. Do you honestly think I'm scared because of your relationship?" She leaned back on the wall and cocked her head slightly, almost proud. "Aside from the fact that I'm Nik's beloved little sister, and you wouldn't make him choose, you're a child. A child, Caroline. You were a child in Mystic Falls when we met, and I'm beginning to think that's all you'll ever be. You could never win a fight with me, because you'll never be able to win this world. You'll never understand it. You want everyone to like you, and work with you, and you refuse to look at the bigger picture, or other perspectives. You'll never look at this world past your black-and-white morals."

"A may be a child in your eyes," Caroline replied, scowling. "But if I choose to activate this serum, then I could kick your ass so hard you'd taste it."

"See?! It doesn't matter how powerful you are," Rebekah exclaimed, dropping her arms. "That's the thing. That's what you don't get. Nik's dated queens, before. Witches who could squash you like a bug, even now. Vampires ten times your age. Power means nothing in a family like this. In the end, we are all we have. Everything else is temporary."

Caroline paused, thinking that over as she sucked her teeth. "We're different," she informed Rebekah, thinking about all she and Klaus had been through already.

"Are you?" Rebekah questioned. "In a thousand years, you'll be damn lucky if he even remembers your name, whereas mine, he'll never forget. And every girlfriend he's had, hated me because of it. Well, that's a lie. I actually liked a few, and we got along fine. But the majority and I, do not get along. So if you want to prove that you're so different, then act differently."

There was a long pause before Caroline sighed and turned back into the compound. "I'm going to get a drink. Do you want one?"

Rebekah scoffed. "A drink. Good start."

Caroline opened her mouth to curse at her, but relented and flipped her off instead, storming inside slightly. Rebekah just smirked and waited, enjoying the Caroline-free space for only a second before the metal gate burst open.

Instantly, a searing pain shot through her head, and she coward slightly, her hands reaching up to try and soothe the pain as she cried out.

Kai Parker walked around the corner, his hands raised as he chanted.

Rebekah felt herself being dragged out of the compound, forced to fall out onto the pavement.

Kai went to pick her up, but she slammed in against a nearby wall and reached her hand into his chest, grabbing his heart and preparing to pull it out. Before she could, however, she felt the piercing tip of a stake enter her own heart from behind.

The world went black, and she dropped to the floor before being carried away.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Cade thought that killing Cami would have me killing Katherine to punish her for bringing that monster to my city," Klaus determined. "When it didn't he set his sights on Rebekah." He turned to the table, which all of his other siblings stood by. Finn and Freya was sat down, looking grim. Kol wouldn't look at any of them, and Elijah tried to comfort him. "He's kicking hornet nests until we have no choice was to confront him. I'll go and get her."

"Wait," Freya ordered, getting to her feet. "It's not safe out there."

"What are we supposed to do, then?!" Klaus demanded, angrily. "Sit here and play cards until Cade slides Rebekah's bitten corpse through our door?"

"I'll go," Elijah volunteered.

"Don't be ridiculous," Klaus snapped. "I'm much stronger than you."

"Cut it out," Freya ordered, stepping around the table to glare at her little brothers. "Katherine and I sort of have a plan. I'm going to cloak Caroline, so she can carry it through peacefully. Finn and Elijah, the pair of you are going to help Kol prevent another loss. And Klaus, you're going to help me."

* * *

Caroline walked out to Klaus's car and opened up the driver's door, but turned when Katherine jumped out of nowhere and closed it again. "I'm driving," she informed Caroline, cheerfully.

"Seriously?" Caroline asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're the one Cade is after. You need to go back inside the compound before Elijah realises your missing and has a heart attack." She snatched the keys from Katherine's hand and turned back to the car.

"Please," Katherine huffed. "I'm the one who found this weapon in the first place. We both know, that even if you stop me from coming, I'm not going to go back to the compound to play innocent damsel to Elijah and his siblings. Now, which one is more dangerous? Roaming the city by myself, or coming with you, hardcore baby vampire?"

Caroline clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes. "I'm driving, Petrova." She opened the door and climbed in, waiting for the witch to climb into the passenger seat.

* * *

Finn managed to bring Davina back to life with the help of Elijah's strength. She stood before all of them, grateful to be alive, and having a tearful reunion with Kol and Marcel. Meanwhile, Freya pulled Elijah and Klaus away from the group and spoke in hushed voices.

"I know how to kill Cade," she said, grinning slightly with hopefulness. "While Davina's stuck between worlds, I can use her as a conduit to the ancestor's power. The same power that was used to create Cade. Once I have it, I can revert him back to his old, devil self. Caroline has gone to retrieve a weapon that can be used against him from there."

"So what's the problem?" Elijah asked, noting Freya's worry.

"Everything comes with a price," Freya answered. "In order to take power from the ancestors, you have to steal it. That means, in order to make Cade killable, I'll have to draw through Davina while she's in the ancestral well. And to do that, I'll have to break the circle that protect her."

"We can't do that," Elijah chimed in, before Klaus could. "That would destroy her."

"Think about what's at stake, Elijah," Klaus said. "This is Rebekah we're talking about. We can't just let her die."

"This would hurt Kol beyond repair," Elijah claimed, his eyes darting between his siblings with clear distaste. "We can't do that to him. We have done enough. We can't break one sibling to save another-"

"Yes we can," Klaus interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Kol will be hurt, but Rebekah will be dead. That would hurt Kol even more."

"Kol will have an eternity to heal," Freya reminded him, "and to fall in love again. We only have limited time until Cade bites Rebekah, and we don't have another cure. What the hell do we do?"

"If we destroy Davina, we'll lose Kol and Marcel," Elijah told the pair of them. "We'll all be turning on each other. We'll find another way. Keep looking."

Freya and Klaus exchanged a look before their faces fell. "We could always give Cade what he wants," Klaus mused, crossing his arms. "Have him leave our city for good. We could hand Katerina over. Let her stay dead, for once."

"Klaus," Freya whispered, but she didn't contradict the possibility.

Elijah clicked his tongue. "That's not happening, either," he decided, shaking his head. "We can find another way."

"No, we can't!" Klaus exclaimed, angrily. "That is the choice you must make, brother. Plain and simple. Shall we kill Rebekah, Katerina, or Davina – who, may I remind you, is already dead?" He glared at Elijah and took a deep breath. "Rebekah spent months trying to save Kol's life. He wouldn't just want her to die. He'll be grateful for our decision, in time."

Elijah paused, mimicking Klaus by taking a deep breath himself. "Davina is just a child," he reminded both of them.

"What choice do we have?" Freya asked.

"Wait," he pleaded. "Wait until the end of the day. Try and find another possible means of destroying Cade. Then, if we have found nothing… then we'll see."

* * *

Katherine and Caroline had easily gotten into the hiding place of Arcadius's dagger. The devil must have thought about them trying to find it, and had the place guarded with an small gaggle of vampires. Caroline had them all under her thumb in a second, soaking her black jeans and jacket with blood, getting some around her mouth and chin as well, dripping down her neck.

She didn't get a scratch on her, and not a hair was out of place. She strutted past the dead bodies in heels, and Katherine couldn't help but smirk with pride. The baby vampire that she had turned had come so far.

"Damn Forbes," Katherine commented, as she followed the blonde, watching her red eyes turn back to blue, and her skin go back to clear and smooth. "If you can do that as a regular vampire, then this whole _Original_ thing is going to be good for you."

"Hm," Caroline replied, simply. They found their way into the underground cave, where Cade's dagger sat at a little alter.

"You don't agree with me?" Katherine asked, picking the dagger up and inspecting the blade, feeling the prick on her own finger.

Caroline changed the conversation, looking around the cave for any booby traps, and listening out for any approaching soldiers. "Don't you think this was a little too easy?" She asked, cautiously. "Getting the dagger, I mean."

"Going to hell is easy," Katherine replied, leading the way out and turning to the car. "It's getting home, which is the problem. Cade always thinks that way." She slipped the glass blade into her jacket and turned to Caroline. "I wouldn't worry. There's probably more to come."

She still looked unnerved as they headed back to the car, this time Katherine forcing her way to the driver's seat and starting the engine before Caroline even got into the passenger's side. "Even if Cade does send someone else, I can take them," Caroline mused, thoughtfully. "But if it's him, then we're screwed."

"Is that why you want to activate the serum?" Katherine asked, thoughtfully. "To protect us all from Cade? We would have found another way."

"I took the serum because if I hadn't, Kai would have," Caroline answered, rolling her eyes. "And I want to activate it, because if I don't, Kai will keep coming for me. I'll do this to protect me and my surrogate sister."

Katherine smirked, tapping the wheel as she pulled out onto the road. "Yeah, but that's not the whole reason, is it?" She asked. "God, that would be boring if it was. Come on, Goldilocks. You've got beans. Spill them."

Caroline paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm living in New Orleans with four of the world's most powerful creatures, and their two witchy older siblings. You, the sociopathic genius. Hayley, the hybrid alpha. Marcel. Granted, he's just a vampire, but one that's much older than me." She took a deep breath before continuing. "We're at war with Cade, the unkillable devil."

"And?" Katherine asked, her curls falling over her shoulder as she turned her head to the blonde.

"And I didn't want to be the weakest bitch in the city," she replied, simply. "Sue me."

Katherine smirked. "But…?"

Caroline scowled. "God, you're nosy today."

"I spilled chardonnay on my laptop," Katherine explained, shrugging. "I can't use Netflix, and you make a good replacement."

"Oh my god; get the app!" Caroline exclaimed, annoyed by this.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Stop dodging the question, Forbes!"

There was a pause as the blonde sucked her teeth, before finally admitting the truth. "It took me a long time to be okay with vampirism," she told her, leaning back in her chair. "I just don't think I'm ready for this. I don't know how to handle it. I know I'm going to screw it up."

Katherine's eyes softened as she studied Caroline, one of the only people who could actually have the potential to become her friend. Like, a real friend at that. Katherine shook that mushy thought from her head, and remembered that they still hated each other. But Katherine could still respect her.

"Look," she said, "it may have taken a while for you to become okay with being a vampire, but you still became okay with it. That's more than most people can say. More than Stefan can say, and Finn. Kol's still struggling, bless him. But you? It took you less than a year to become good at it. Better than your damn mentor."

"What's your point?" Caroline asked.

"There's a reason you're okay with who you are," Katherine told her. "There's a reason that Klaus is in love with you, and Rebekah is jealous of you. There's a reason I respect you. There's a reason you took that serum, and it's not Bonnie. And it's the same reason you were head cheerleader and organised all the events in Mystic Falls, single-handedly."

"And what's that?" Caroline asked.

Katherine shrugged. "You were made for power," she answered. "Built for leadership. And that's why you're going to be fine."

Caroline smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, they reached a crossroads and another car came speeding towards them, smashing in windows and knocking them off the road.

* * *

"They're not answering," Elijah growled, walking into Freya's room of magic and throwing his phone down on the table, pacing unnervingly. "And the Strix told me that Malachai has been tailing them. Cade has Katerina. It is not just Rebekah's life we need to save now."

"I doubt it's Rebekah at all," Klaus mused, his hands behind his back. "If Cade has the woman he's after, then how much time do we have left? I doubt he will stall. Elijah, we're out of time."

"We need to put an end to this," Freya agreed. "The only way to get the power I need to kill Cade is to use Davina."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Downstairs, Davina still stood in her circle, facing Marcel and trying to reason with him, to ease his regret. "This isn't your fault, Marcel," she told him. "Or Kol's. The ancestors hate me because of choices _I_ made." She paused, shaking her head slightly. "I'm not a kid. I'm not your responsibility."

Marcel smiled kindly at her, the way he always had. "Honey, you will always be my responsibility," he told her, simply.

"What were you supposed to do?" She asked. "Lock me in an attic and keep the world at bay forever?" There was a pause as she waited for his reply, but he just lowered his head. So she continued. "You didn't let me down," she insisted. "I just grew up." Marcel met her eye again and she smiled at him. "Thank you for saving me that first time," she said. "And for everything else after. I love you, Marcel."

Before he could reply, he was slammed against the back wall, and held there by Elijah and Klaus. Neither of them wanted to be the one to do it, so they did it together. "Forgive us, Marcel," Elijah pleaded, and Klaus just looked at him apologetically.

Freya entered the room chanting loudly. She stormed forward and grabbed Davina's wrist, channelling her connection with the ancestors.

"No, please!" Davina begged, trying to make her let go. "You'll break the circle. Please! Please!" She started crying blood as she begged, but Freya did not let go. " _Please don't! Please no! No, no no_!" Freya's chanting only picked up over Davina's pleads. "MARCEL!"

Marcel tried to fight to save her, but Klaus snapped his neck so that he wouldn't have to watch. There was a scream from Davina as Freya finished the spell, and suddenly, her body disappeared.

Freya turned to her brothers, both of whom looked grim and upset. "It had to be done," she reminded them, leaving the room.

* * *

Caroline woke up, only a second or two after the crash, and groaned, leaning back. There was a piece of broken glass embedded in her forehead, which she pulled out easily. She looked over to Katherine, and took in the accident's toll on the human. She'd been tossed through the front window, her torso laying across the car's hood and her legs on the steering wheel.

Caroline jumped out of the car and ran around to the front, inspecting the situation and wondering how to get Katherine out without dragging broken glass across her skin. Before Caroline could make a move to rescue her, Cade flashed between them, staring Caroline down.

"This is my subject," he told her, gesturing to Katherine. "You cannot tell me honestly that after killing you, you'd prefer for her to live a happy life outside of my grasp?"

"You want her?" Caroline asked. "Come get her."

Cade smirked before throwing the first punch, knocking Caroline back into the side of the car, denting it even. "Camille tried to fight as well," Cade informed her. "Now would be the best time to prove your worth over her."

Caroline aimed a kick to Cade's stomach and punched him in the face, but the blows did not affect him. She ran at him but he flipped her over, throwing her over a nearby wooden fence. She jumped to her feet and growled at him, showing him her fangs and veins.

Cade showed her the same on his own face, and with a perfect poker face, began boiling her skin. Burning her with hell fire. Caroline winced in pain, but still managed to charge forward and slam him down, breaking his concentration. Cade got to his feet and picked her up, throwing her through the wall of a shack. She landed in a dusty room and straightened up, snarling.

Cade followed her into the building and pulled her to her feet, pushing her through another wall. Caroline got to her feet and ran at him, but he punched her across the face and she fell back down again.

He stepped closer and she kicked his legs out from under him, knocking him onto his back. She pounced on him, straddling him and snapping his neck. It stayed at an angle, but Cade didn't lose consciousness. Instead, he just fixed the broken bone and grinned at her.

"Oh shit," Caroline whispered.

Cade got them both to their feet and he pinned her to the nearest wall by her neck, dragging her along like an object. "I don't like my subjects being taken from me," he told her, growling. "I suggest you give her up, before you follow her fate."

"I don't give up on my friends!" She spat.

"No," Cade agreed, thoughtfully. "You just die for them." He reached his hand inside her chest and ripped her heart out, tossing it on the ground with her body.

He sighed as the fight ended and took a step to go outside, to find Katerina, but before he could the wall exploded and her car plummeted into him, knocking him to the ground. Katherine sat behind the wheel, looking quite proud of herself before jumping out of the vehicle and facing him. Her skin was purple and blue, and she was bleeding from a bunch of different cuts. Her face was dirty and her hair was matted, but she didn't look fazed. She raised her hands and began chanting.

Cade groaned slightly as his skin began to cut itself open, creating little scars all over his body, but he shook the magic away and pounced on the doppelganger, pinning her against the wall by her throat, as he had done to Caroline. But before he could reach his hand into her chest, he felt another hand grip his heart.

Behind him came the growls of a newly turned Original, and from the corner of his eye, he could see Caroline Forbes with glowing red eyes and veins down to her chin.

She buried her teeth in his neck and he cried out in pain. He tried to elbow her in the face but she ducked and flipped him across the room. Before he could even regain his balance, she jumped on him, pinning him down and breaking his arms with one swift movement. He turned and threw her off of him, threw a wall even. She landed somewhere outside with a thud and jumped to her feet instantly.

When she got to her feet, she turned around to see that Cade had dragged Katherine out with him. His hand was buried in her back, gripping her heart in his fist. Katherine was spluttering and coughing up blood. On the verge of death, she was still muttering. Chanting a spell that didn't seem to compare to Cade's strength.

"Well, well," he mused, looking between the blonde and the brunette. "Here it is. Two of the world's most powerful vixens, and not one of you can stop me. How pathetic you are. Look at this, Miss Forbes. She's chanting a spell. One that has no effect at all. How sad is that?"

Caroline narrowed her eyes, doubting that for a second. Katherine always had a plan. And it was never to fail at something.

Before Cade could add anything, his eyes widened in shock. His face turned a blue and purple colour with bruises and his skin cut itself open in a thousand little cuts. He clutched his ribs like they were broken and his back peeled itself open like someone was reaching inside of him. He dropped Katherine and fell to the floor himself.

"A linking spell is always easy," Katherine snarled, falling to her hands and knees. Without pausing to take a break, she reached up and began chanting. Her hands glowed bright blue with power. Caroline didn't know what she was doing, but Cade was lifted into the air his limbs stretching out and he cried out in pain. When he fell back to the floor, Katherine pointed to the car. "Dagger!"

"What did you do?!" Caroline asked as she ran to the car and grabbed the glass blade from the passenger seat, where it had fallen out of Katherine's jacket.

"Channelled Freya," Katherine answered, weakly. "Who channelled ancestors."

She began chanting again, and Cade healed. His ribs healed, his face cleared and his back sewed itself up.

They were unlinked.

Caroline ran at him and stabbed him through the heart before he could even fight back. She pushed him away as he burned, and didn't even give him the satisfaction of having somebody watch him die. Instead, she ran to Katherine, cutting her wrist open and allowing her to drink and heal.

By the time that Klaus, Elijah and Freya caught up to them, Cade was all but cinders and Katherine was standing upright, leaning slightly against Caroline. Elijah ran and towards them, and took Katherine from her hands, holding her straight and allowing her to lean against him, instead. Freya looked weakened as she turned to Katherine.

"I felt you channel me," she told her huffing slightly. "Good work, Kat."

* * *

As soon as Rebekah was free, she went to go and find one of the men she loved most in this world. Marcel. She'd searched for Kol as well, but she'd found her ex-boyfriend first, and decided to tackle one problem at a time. Marcel seemed to hear her approaching, and he threw the bottle of alcohol he was holding at a nearby wall, shattering the glass.

He turned to Rebekah, his eyes watering and sad. "I did everything your family asked," he told her, gesturing pathetically. "I did everything right. I joined Elijah's stupid cult. I left my friends in the dust because that's what you needed."

"Marcel," Rebekah whispered, stepping forward.

"I fought for Hope!" He exclaimed, his voice raising. "I kept Hayley breathing. I followed Katherine's orders. I stopped white-oak from piercing Klaus's cold, black heart. I did everything."

"I know," Rebekah said, soothingly. She looked at him full of sorrow, and reached up to touch his arm before realising that would be a bad idea and lowering her hand.

"You don't," he snarled, seething, a single tear staining his cheek. "No you don't."

She nodded slightly and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I do. I know what it's like to love someone, and have them torn away from you. Please don't start to blame me for something my family did. I wasn't there. But you're forgetting that they did everything they could, too. To find another way. But they couldn't. Marcel, I'm sorry. I am. But you can't blame them for choosing to save me over someone who, just a couple of weeks ago, tried to kill them. They still tried to save her. But they had no choice."

Marcel shook his head, stepping forward angrily. "You're just like your brother," he told her. "And they were all right about him. Anyone who's not your family means nothing to you. _Nothing_."

"Marcel, you are family," Rebekah insisted.

"No, I'm not," he claimed. "Not anymore. Never again. I am not your family." He kicked over a chair as he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Elijah sat on the couch, nursing a glass of scotch and thinking about what he'd done that day. He'd killed a child to save somebody who's had dozens of lives. Davina hadn't even started yet. She had been good. Perhaps not to his family, but good people were never good to his family.

She had been good for Kol.

He turned around when he noticed the presence of Katerina behind him, lurking in the doorway. He turned to face her and sighed. "I tried to be the good guy," he whispered to her, sadly.

She took a deep breath as she entered the room. "If you want me to forgive you," she mused, "to suck your dick and tell you what a good guy you are at heart, then I'm sorry, I'm not going to do that. Because you're not a good guy, Elijah. You haven't been for centuries. But the thing is, we all make these choices. We all do horrible things to survive and protect the ones we love. There are no good guys in this world."

Elijah paused, turning to her and frowning. "This isn't helpful," he told her.

Katherine sat next to him and took his hand in hers. "The sooner you start to believe that you don't have to live up to the impossible expectations of good people," she continued, "and you start realising that good vampires don't exist… that would be helpful. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that you're a good person, because you're not. No one is, and you need to realise that you don't have to be special. It's only going to stress you out, and hurt you."

He lowered his eyes, kissing her hand and pulling her closer to him. Because he lied.

She'd always helped him more than anybody else could.

* * *

"You were right," Caroline whispered, stepping into the doorframe of Rebekah's bedroom and fidgeting awkwardly. Her eyes were slightly red, although she hadn't been crying.

Rebekah looked up from her bed, where she was looking at a picture of Davina, sadly. Now she had been crying. That was obvious. She'd cared about Davina once. Maybe it had been a while ago, but that never really went away. "About what?" She asked, somehow relenting from being mean.

"I don't understand this world," Caroline replied, coughing slightly and crossing her arms. Not out of stubbornness, but out of longing. Maybe she just wanted to be hugged or something. "My world. My mind. I don't get it. I don't think I ever have. Not since becoming a vampire, anyway. I'm in love with a man who killed a child tonight. A teenage girl. And I know he did it to protect you but… I just don't understand it."

"You're attraction to him?" Rebekah guessed. "You just said you love him. Love isn't supposed to make sense. People never understand it. Understanding it isn't the point."

Caroline paused, her face falling. "Did I really just say that? I didn't mean to."

"Is it true?" Rebekah asked.

Caroline shrugged. "I don't know. I've never thought about it before."

There was a pause before Rebekah shuffled over a little bit, giving Caroline a spot on the bed. There was an even longer pause before Caroline excepted it, walking over and sitting next to the older blonde, who set the photo of Davina aside.

"You're the constant in his life," she continued, thoughtfully. "Not me. Not Davina. He helped kill her, and he did not look back. He'll never look back. She'll be a passing, fleeting kill, and in a thousand years, he won't remember her name. But she was a child. How could I be in love with someone who cares so little?"

"Because he doesn't," Rebekah contradicted, rolling her eyes. "He cares a lot, and you know that. You see the good in him, and you love him. That's pretty obvious, Caroline. Even I can admit it."

Caroline blinked, sighing. "Maybe that's what makes me different from the other girls he's dated. The fact that I… I see more. And that's the Klaus I care about."

Rebekah just shook her head. "No. That's not it. There is something different about you though. I just need to put my finger on it."

Caroline took a deep breath, turning to Rebekah and looking her in the eye. "Do you think I can do this? This whole… powerful immortal thing? Katherine thinks I was built for it, and she knows me surprisingly well. And tonight, I helped kill the devil. But right now, I can't help but feel as though I was meant to live a small-town life. Become a soccer-mom. I don't know."

"You were definitely meant to be a soccer-mom," Rebekah agreed, nodding. "But who you're meant to be, and who you are, are two different things. And you are part of this world. Always have been. It's in your blood."

"I'm just like Klaus," Caroline whispered, scared. "That's why I'm so invested in him." There was a pause before she decided to rephrase that. "That's why I love him."

Rebekah shook her head. "I wouldn't say you're the same," she denied. "Two puzzle pieces perhaps. You fit around each other, complement each other. Two halves of one whole. One dark and one light. And you better find his light before he drags you into his darkness."

Caroline blinked as her face fell. "I'm sorry, Rebekah. Your friend died tonight, and I'm here talking about my relationship issues."

Rebekah tried to shrug it off, but her voice caught as she spoke. "She wasn't my friend," she tried to say. Then her eyes welled up with tears again, and she allowed Caroline to pull her into an embrace – comforting the older vampire just like she was any other friend.

* * *

 **AN: Some Rebekoline for yah! Don't forget to review. -Izzy x**


	21. Chapter 20

**AN: Again, Caroline's turning is temporary, to try and balance the conflicting reviews. And I hope this clears up that lovesick Katherine thing.** **-** **Izzy x**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty – The Originals 3x21**

Jazz musicians played solemnly down the street of New Orleans, following the casket that was marched across the Quarter. Crowds of people who knew and loved Camille, and a few who simply respected her, came out to say their farewells.

They walked in two rows of three. Klaus led the way, his hands in his pockets and Caroline at his right side. To his left stood Hayley, her arms crossed. Behind them, Elijah walked with his hand linked through Katherines, and Rebekah stood next to him, trying not to swing her arms as they walked. They all wore black and looked straight ahead, solemnly.

Davina was having a separate memorial, and those closest to her went into the graveyard to say a private goodbye to her. Kol, Marcel, Vincent and Josh. Rebekah waited outside the graveyard for their return, to make sure their youngest brother was okay. The rest of the wake retreated to a nearby coffee shop to try and warm their cold hearts.

"We can't run out of whiskey at an Irish Wake!" Caroline ordered when she heard complaints, retreating to the kitchen to argue with the staff. "It's like the one rule. Okay? God, what am I compelling you all for?!"

"Whiskey is key," Hayley agreed, appearing at Caroline's shoulder and glaring them down. One member of staff ran outside to buy some more, and the two women turned to each other. "Thank you for helping me plan all this, Caroline," Hayley said, gratefully. "I suck at parties, and Camille would have really appreciated it."

Caroline nodded, crossing her arms over her black dress. "I hope so... Will you be honest with me?" She bit her lip as Hayley nodded. "Is it weird that I'm here? Like, disrespectful or something?"

"No," Hayley said, shaking her head, instantly. "No, of course not. You helped Camille when she first became a vampire, and I know she was grateful for that. She never hated you, even though she wanted to. You were her friend, for however brief. You have a right to be here, Caroline."

She sighed before giving a faint smile. "Are you okay, Hayley?"

There was a pause before the hybrid nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Or I will be. It's just… Losing Cami and Davina so quickly. It's a shock, you know?"

Caroline nodded and rubbed Hayley's shoulders comfortingly. "It gets better," she promised. She noticed Klaus on the other side of the bar and nodded towards him. "What about him? Is he… handling it?"

Hayley followed her line of sight as a man, some police officer, walking towards Klaus. "Has he reached out to you, since?" Hayley asked her, turning back to Caroline – who shook her head.

"No," she replied. "I think he's mad at me. I mean, it's not like it's my fault that Cade killed me. He was the devil; how was I supposed to stop him? It's just his crazy paranoia getting the best of him, and I just… I want him to talk to me again."

"He will," the brunette promised. "I think he misses you."

* * *

"Here," Finn said, holding the knife over the bowl in the compound. Freya reached out and wrapped her fingers around the blade, squeezing until a few drops of blood spilled from her palm.

Both of their heads snapped up at the sound of footprints and they turned to see Kol. He walked in on them and briefly inspected the scene before hitching up the pants of his suit and sitting himself down. "We didn't think anyone was home," Freya said, turning to face him.

"Did you think I'd be at Camille's wake?" Kol asked, thoughtfully. "Well, as it turns out, I hit my funeral quota for the day. Davina's was this morning. You remember her? Love of my life, condemned to an unknowable hell?"

"She wasn't the love of your damn life, Kol," Finn chimed in, snappily. "You knew her for a few months."

"You knew Sage for a few months before you were bloody daggered," Kol reminded him, surprisingly calm given the insult. "And she waited nine-hundred years for you." The brothers glared at each other and Freya looked between them before deciding not to ask who Sage was. "What's your excuse, Freya?" Kol asked, turning to her. "Were you so repulsed by what you did that you couldn't bring yourself to indulge in whiskey and finger-food?"

Freya coughed and looked down, awkwardly. "Kol," Finn scolded.

"Finn," Freya snapped, not realising the irony of the scold until after she said it.

"Were you just too busy desecrating the dead?" Kol asked, picking up the skull on the table by the bowl. "Is this to be your new hobby now?"

"When Lucien left, he was still positive the prophecy would unfold," she explained, squeezing her hand over the bowl and letting the blood pour. "I need to know if he was right. These are the remains of his oracle, Alexis. Hers was a power I barely understood. But now that my magic has been touched by the ancestors, I can channel her. Forecast as she did. We can find out if Lucien was right, or if we can finally put this nightmare behind us."

Kol paused, looking thoughtful. "I hope the prophecy is true," he mused. "I hope you all rot in hell. I'm just mad I won't be around to see it."

"Where are you going, brother?" Finn asked, as Kol turned away to leave.

"None of your bloody business," he snapped in return. Finn walked forward to stop him, but Kol pushed him back. "There is nothing for me here."

"Kol, you know that isn't true," Freya whispered, sadly. "Your family-"

"Don't you lecture me on my family," Kol said, scowling. "You may have searched for us your entire life, but I never, for a second, wanted you."

He turned to leave again and Freya snapped. "Were we just supposed to let Rebekah die?!" Freya demanded, her arms gesturing wildly for a second. "Would you prefer that? For your sister, perhaps the only one of us you actually care about, to be dead? After she spent months doing everything she could to bring you back? You would rather have her killed?"

"I didn't say that!" Kol exclaimed, turning back around and glaring at her.

"You may as well have!" Freya yelled back, defensively. "There was no other option, Kol. No way out of it. I looked and looked and looked because you are my brother, and I searched for you my entire life. Like you said. And I didn't want to do that to you. And I'm tired of walking around every day feeling shitty about it. So you go and talk to Rebekah. You look her in the eye and tell her that you wish she was dead, and then you can tell me what a horrible person I am."

There was a pause before Kol grabbed her by the neck and shoved her against a nearby wall, ignoring Finn's yell of protest. "How dare you?" Kol growled, leaning forward and snarling at her. "How _dare_ you?" He threw Freya to the floor and stormed out.

Finn ran forward to help her up and she coughed slightly, rubbing her neck. "There's a reason," Finn mused, "why Klaus is afraid of Kol, Freya. You shouldn't have said that."

-0-0-0-0-0-

When they returned home, Katherine went straight upstairs to find Freya, hearing about the spell she'd had planned. "Anything?" She asked, throwing her jacket over a nearby chair and sitting opposite her friend.

Freya shook her head, sadly. "No. Every time I think I'm close to seeing something, it disappears before I can. Nothing's working." Her hands were on either side of Alexis's creepy skull and she was intensely focusing.

Experimentally, Katherine reached out and covered Freya's hands with her own, jumping back as they both saw the same thing. The prophecy. The blood splattering across Elijah's portrait; the destroyed Thanksgiving dining table, and the beast. The growing shadow, that faced them, with glowing red eyes and veins to their chin.

Marcel.

"That's not possible," Katherine whispered, as the vision left and their hands separated. "Caroline took the last serum. Cade, Lucien and Caroline. There were only three. How is this possible?"

"It isn't," Freya replied.

There was a pause before Katherine reached forward again. "Finish it."

Their hands touched and the vision flashed before their eyes once more. This time, Marcel stood on a bridge, staring straight at them. Then there was Elijah, slumped in a chair and looking worn out, some vicious looking bite on his arm. Hayley stood in the corner, watching him with Hope in her arms and blood around her face, looking shocked and sad. Then there was Klaus, held up by a crowd as Marcel stabbed him with the blade of Papa Tunde. One vision was of Marcel and Elijah clinking glasses in a toast, and the next was of Marcel – charging forward and stabbing him in the back. And the last one was of coffins. Five of them, shining slightly in a dark space.

When they returned to reality, the two women just looked at each other in shock and fear of what was left to come.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"It must have been Cade," Freya deducted, as Hayley, Caroline and Rebekah joined them. Elijah and Finn were out looking for Kol, and Klaus was out trying to comfort Marcel. And so, this became the women's problem.

"But Cade activated his serum," Katherine reminded her. "So that's impossible."

"But Caroline's serum is still very active," Freya explained, gesturing to the blonde across from her who raised a hand. "And I called Lucien, who said his was still very active. After Cade's death, a witch must have reverted the serum back to its original form and extracted it from the heart."

"He'd need a witch," Hayley pointed out. "And his witch is kind of dead."

"Vincent," Caroline reminded her. "He's angry about Davina, so he teamed up with Marcel. He wants the Mikaelsons dead because of it, and he's got to be using Marcel to do so.

"Well, that gives us a motive," Rebekah added, with a nod.

"So what do we do?" Hayley asked, crossing her arms. "Klaus won't let us near Marcel right now – he's trying to fix their broken relationship. And he's not answering his phone."

"Relax," Katherine said, holding up a hand. "I already have a plan."

* * *

Kol stared into his fractured mirror, drinking heavily from a glass of bourbon and staring at his reflection. He looked angry, but he didn't feel it. Just thoughtful and confused. Davina had appeared in his mirror. She'd come to him. Sort him out. She was trying to talk to him, to see him again. She wanted to say goodbye. And he needed to say goodbye. He finished his drink and went to reach for another one before deciding against it. Perhaps he shouldn't be resorting to alcohol every time something happened.

And also because, he could feel the approaching body behind him. Elijah appearing in the doorway. Kol didn't turn to face his big brother straight away. He didn't want to look Elijah in the eye after what he did. But he did listen when he started talking. "Freya told me of your plans to leave," he said, sadly. Kol heard him take a few steps forward, and still he didn't turn around to greet him. "I beg you to reconsider," Elijah pleaded, sounding desperate. "After centuries, our family is so close to happiness-"

"I HAD HAPPINESS!" Kol yelled. Ah. There was the anger. Buried deep inside of him was a tsunami aimed at three of his least favourite siblings. "You took her from me!" He turned around to stare Elijah down and raised his hand to point at him. "What family does that? We're not a family, Elijah. We're a bundle of strangers who all just happen to share blood. I met Freya a few weeks ago, and I'm expected to trust her? Forgive her? I don't know her. And you… You were supposed to be the good brother. The one I could count on. And you do this? I don't know you either."

"And Rebekah?" Elijah asked, his already-wide eyes widening even further. Kol was not expecting those. This big brown, sad orbs. He'd rarely ever seen Elijah upset before. And he'd never seen him cry. He was always the strong brother. He had to be. He didn't get to be upset now. "Is she your family? The woman who dedicated months of her life, desperately trying to find you. Would you have been the family, the prophecy claimed would bring her downfall? Would you have let her go so easily for Davina?"

"I NEVER SAID THAT!" Kol exclaimed, the glass in his hand smashing as he growled. "I love Rebekah. I would have saved her _and_ Davina. Don't you dare use Rebekah to hurt me!"

"I didn't," Elijah said. "But I promise you Kol, there was no other way. I would do that to you, if there was another way." There was a pause as Kol refused to reply. He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at the wall, seeing right through it. Elijah just looked sadly at him. "Please try to forgive me, Kol. Losing a brother never gets easier."

He touched his shoulder briefly and Kol didn't push him away.

"Elijah," Rebekah said, arriving in the doorway and peering in at the pair of them. "Go and find Katherine, will you?" Elijah and Rebekah exchanged a knowing look before he left them in peace. Rebekah walked over and took a seat by Kol's side. "Are you," she mused after a full minute of silence, " _going to_ be okay?"

Kol nodded. "Eventually," he said. "And I'll forgive them one day. But I don't need tough love. I don't need them to keep reminding me that they had no choice, defending themselves. I don't want to be forced into thinking about what I would do in that situation. Because I know what I would do. I just don't want to say it."

She nodded. "You don't need tough love," she repeated back to him. "You just need love." She leaned over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He leaned into her and she held him there for a moment, giving him the comfort he'd so craved.

"I saw her, Rebekah," he informed her. "She's reaching out to me."

"Then we'll meet her," Rebekah promised. She took his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on."

On the way out, she sent a quick text to Katherine.

 _Taking care of Kol all day. Will be out of your hair. I hope this kills you. -Rebekah_

* * *

"What's going on?" Elijah asked, walking into the courtyard just as Katherine was leaving. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him, her eyes gleaming with a new scheme.

"The other girls are keeping Marcel's friends busy while I go and stop him," Katherine told him, beginning to smile slightly at the idea of having something to do. "He's got the serum, Elijah. Vincent must have extracted it from Cade's corpse. But he's still mourning Davina, so we can't let him take it."

Elijah nodded, thoughtfully. "Thank you for informing me," he said. "I'll take care of it from here."

Katherine actually laughed at that. "No you won't," she contradicted. "This is my find, Elijah. I'm going to take care of it."

He blinked, confused by her rebellion. "Marcel is a part of this family," he claimed. "Which makes this my business and not yours. Stay here – where it's safe – and I'll go deal with it."

"Oh, sorry," she said, sarcastically. "I forgot it was still 1492, when the women had to stay home unless the men saw fit." She raised her chin proudly and took a step forward. "It's your family that's making Marcel pissed in the first place. Right now he needs a friend to talk him down, and I'm going to be able to do that a lot less condescendingly than you're going to. So unless you're trying to make the situation worse, I'd stay out of it."

Elijah narrowed his eyes clicked his tongue. "And you, Katherine, will be able to make the situation any better?" He challenged, using her façade name to emphasise her ability to worsen a day. "You have been a family foe for so long. Adding you to the situation is only going to make Marcel inspired, or Niklaus agitated. This is family business. Not your place."

She scoffed, angrily. "Not my place?!" She demanded, crossing her arms. "I've been working for months to earn your trust, and when you claim I have it, and when I'm trying to help you, all you can do is insult me."

"I did not insult you," he claimed, simply.

"Yes you did!" She insisted. "You always do. This is why Marcel is rebelling against you, Elijah. Unless you want me to join him, then I'd back down from this fight pretty quickly."

Elijah took a deep breath before holding his hands up in a surrender and letting Katherine storm out of the compound gate.

* * *

Vincent's place was, as usual, trashed. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, and the carpet was in tatters, most of the furniture was broken, and there were runes chalked all over the walls, the remnants of his wife's witchcraft. "Oh," Will – the police officer who Klaus and Camille had once saved from suicide – said as he looked around the place. "A bit of a fixer-upper."

"I can't sell it because everyone thinks it's haunted," Vincent explained as he walked through to the living room. "That's what happens when your ex-wife used to perform ritual sacrifices in your parlour room." There was a pause as Will looked confused, and Vincent laughed. "Hey, you said you wanted to know."

"Geez, Vincent, I thought I was crazy," Will said, shifting on his feet, awkwardly. "You're telling me that evil spirits, voodoo, black magic – all that stuff is real?"

Vincent smirked before nodding. "Those of us who practise witchcraft," he explained, "are supposed to be keepers of the balance. Sometimes that goes wrong. Now, the coven won't come near this place, and even ordinary people walk past here and think _'aw, that place is seven different kinds of wrong'_ and they're right to be afraid."

He leaned to the side and pushed a chair out of the way. At first, Will thought the thing that insinuated so much fear in the neighbours was the dozens of cockroaches that crawled out from underneath. But then Vincent reached into a hole in the wall and bought out a little case. "What's that?" He asked, as Vincent opened it up.

He pulled out a cold, heavy-looking metal ball, with similar runes engraved into it. "Once upon a time," Vincent mused, "my crazy ex-wife, Eva, tried to siphon the power of our ancestors. And she created this. It's a mystical battery cell. It's capable of storing all kinds of negative mojo."

"How does that affect us?" Will asked, nervously stepping back as he looked at the orb.

"Witches are supposed to be the protectors of New Orleans," Vincent claimed. "Or they were, until our ancestors came along and made a deal with the devil. Literally. Arcadius made Lucien Castle make a deal with the witches. That's what got Cami killed. Arcadius. Now he's gone, but those same ancestors want to start a war with a family. A very old and powerful family called the Mikaelsons. Look, man, it's a long story, but all you got to know is that a whole lot of people are about to get hurt because the ancestors don't care if this whole city becomes a war zone. And the only way we're going to stop the bloodshed is if we do something about it."

"We?" Will asked.

"We're going to put this in the right place," Vincent explained, "we're going to set it off, and we're going to sever the ancestor's connection to the world of the living. Wipe the slate clean."

There was a pause before a new voice joined them, and footsteps approached from the hallway. "That is a really cute plan," Freya Mikaelson said, as she strutted towards them. "But you were right. A whole lot of people are about to get hurt." She raised her hands and both men fell asleep under her spell. She took the metal ball from Vincent and slipped it into her bag, pulling out her phone as she did, texting Katherine.

 _Vincent's taken care of. I'll stay and watch him. Good luck, Kat. -F_

* * *

When Katherine tracked Marcel and Klaus to a far-away bridge, she ducked behind a tree and watched them for a few minutes as they talked about the importance of family, and how Marcel would always be one of them. Katherine was almost moved by it. But then she saw Elijah arrive and any emotion she had fell from her face.

She had been trying not to keep secrets from him.

So he would trust her.

And he still didn't let her deal with this on her own.

"Step aside, Niklaus," Elijah said, very calmly as he stared Marcel down. Despite his serenity, he was only ever going to make a bad situation worse.

His younger brother simply mimicked Katherine by rolling his eyes. "This is a private conversation, Elijah," he insisted, stepping forward angrily. "Your concerns can wait."

"It's the same Mikaelson drama," Marcel commentated, gesturing to him and huffing. "One is trying to make peace and the other is eying me like I'm a rabid dog." When he spoke, Katherine's face fell slightly. Like she'd never experienced that. She was in the same boat as Marcel, so why was she on a different side?

"Then tell me my concerns are unfounded, Marcellus," Elijah challenged, his eyebrow raising.

"Now I have to prove myself?" Marcel demanded. "To _you_?" Elijah stepped forward and opened his mouth to speak, but Marcel interrupted him before he could. "Davina was like a daughter to me, and you condemned her to a fate worse than death. So how is it _my_ job to prove myself to _you_?"

"Alright, that's enough," Klaus declared, pointing at them in turn. "Both of you."

"You tell me where it is," Elijah ordered, ignoring Klaus, whose eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"What?" Marcel asked, innocently pulling a black vial out of his pocket and holding it up for them all to see. "This?"

Klaus turned to face it and sneered. "What the hell is that?" He demanded.

"That, dear brother," Elijah explained, "is a wicked little gift from our friend Vincent."

Marcel shrugged, before explaining. "He took it from Cade's cold, dead heart. Now it's mine, and I can't help but think… why _not_ take it? Loyalty never got me anywhere, and the only thing you respond to is a show of force. Neither of you are mad at Caroline. I don't see either of you hunting Lucien down. But me? Now there's your problem."

"Marcellus," Klaus growled, warningly. "End this foolishness right now."

"No," Katherine chimed in, finally. She walked to the edge of the bridge, staring all three men down and strutting towards them. "All three of you can knock it off."

"Great, more people," Klaus huffed, scowling.

Katherine ignored him and turned to Elijah. "I told you, I could handle this. But just like Marcel, I can't be trusted. No matter what I do for you, the lengths I will go to, to keep your family safe, I will never be trusted." She turned to Klaus for a second before turning back to Elijah. "When are either of you going to realise that adding another Mikaelson to the situation only increases the problem?! All you ever do is make things worse."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Marcel asked, facing her.

"I did come here to stop you," Katherine explained, turning briefly towards him. "But now that I'm here, I've had a change of heart. Because you're right. If you're not a Mikaelson, you're an object. Or an animal that needs to be tamed. You can't be trusted to handle something alone."

"Katerina-" Elijah tried to interrupt, to assure her that she was not an object, and to forbid her from talking that way again, but she held up a hand to silence him.

"No, Marcel's right," she claimed, nodding slightly. "Elijah, I'll never let him kill you, but maybe you could all use a lesson. Get your ass handed to you for once. Maybe you need to know what it feels like." She turned to Marcel and gestured towards the serum. "Take it."

"Don't," Klaus pleaded.

Marcel narrowed his eyes. "Why not?" He demanded. "I'm family, right? So why would this little serum have to change anything? Other than the fact that I would be your equal. That you couldn't control me as easily." They all watched as Klaus lowered his head. "Nah, you can't have that, can you?"

"You hand that serum over right now," Klaus ordered, "and I will forgive this act of defiance as a momentary fault brought on by your grief."

"That's funny," Marcel told him, nodding. "You came here looking for my forgiveness. But you like it better this way, don't you? Me owing you. And all that little fairy-tale about me being part of the family? That only works if you're in control. Klaus Mikaelson, a benevolent king, showing mercy to all his subjects. But you still have to be the _king_! Don't you?!"

"All kings fall in the end," Katherine mused, playfully. "Take it, Marcel. Or I will."

"Katerina, don't you dare," Elijah snarled, stepping forward and pointing at her. "You are on our side. I won't ask again."

Katherine raised her head and studied him with narrow eyes. "What's the point, Elijah? You won't trust me, even if I am on your side. When I'm on your side, I'm an animal."

"Katerina-"

"My name is Katherine," she growled. "And you're not going to tell me what to do."

Klaus intervened before their lover's spat took control of the real issue. "I won't allow you the means to destroy my family," Klaus reasoned, holding out a hand.

" _Your_ family," Marcel exclaimed. "Thank you."

"He will betray us," Elijah insisted. "I saw it with my own eyes."

"Betray you?" Marcel demanded, laughing. "I asked you, begged you for your help. You killed Davina! What about Katherine, huh, Elijah? In 1492 you were plotting to kill her, and then somehow, she was in the wrong when she ran away? Because it's always somebody else's fault. But maybe, _you_ were the villains, in her story." He gestured to Katherine when he spoke and she chose not to add anything to it. "I've been dealing with it for three centuries. Kat's been dealing with it for five. If you weren't always in control, we wouldn't need to rebel against you." He scoffed, shaking his head. "That's the Mikaelson way, right? Torment, beat, torture, maim, wound, kill. All in the name of family. Always and forever. I used to admire that vow. It gave me something that had been beaten out of me. Hope." He shook his head as tears slowly began to well up in his eyes. "I was a fool. Always and forever is just an excuse to do whatever the hell you want. Maybe it's time somebody put an end to that."

"You are treading very close to a dangerous decision," Elijah said, looking regretful already as he stepped forward. "I'm asking you to choose wisely."

Marcel lifted the vial to his lips and Klaus charged forward. Katherine extended a hand and controlled the winds into throwing him to the other side of the bridge. "You can't stop him, Klaus," she said, gleaming. "I've been waiting centuries for this. I won't let you stop him."

"You don't get it," Marcel laughed. "Whatever I have to do, Klaus, I will find a way to hurt you. Like you hurt me." Katherine recalled some of the images from the prophecy. Hayley about to cry, Klaus getting stabbed, Elijah with a bite mark. "You will never be safe as long as I'm alive. I am done being your friend. From this day forth, I am nothing less than your worst-"

He was interrupted as a hand reached into his back, and Elijah pulled out his heart.

There was a pause among all three who remained on the bridge, until Marcel fell off of it, landing in the body of water. "NO!" Klaus yelled, looking over the edge to watch the man who was once his son, fall.

Elijah started hyperventilating when he realised what he had done. Klaus turned to him and there was another pause.

"I could have talked him down," Klaus claimed, surprisingly calm and quiet. Empty. "I could have-"

"What?" Elijah asked. "Watched our family's extinction take place at the hands of Marcel Gerard?"

"HE WAS ONE OF US!" Klaus yelled, his temper getting to him. "He was my friend." He shook his head as he spoke. "I loved him." There was a pause as he took a very deep breath. Then he pointed at Katherine. "And you love _her_."

Before Elijah could react to that, Klaus's hand reached inside of her chest and ripped out her heart, just like Marcel's. And he threw her into the water along with him, ignoring Elijah's screams of agony.

* * *

Hayley was quietly watching the fire burn in her room, playing with Hope as she reminisced on how fun it had been to finally let her anger out on something, when she noticed Elijah arrive at her doorframe. He looked broken and defeated, like he had the night he'd tried to kill himself.

Hayley got to her feet, instantly on alert. "Elijah, what happened?" She asked, setting Hope down.

"Forgive me," he whispered, falling to his knees.

"What did you do?" She asked, stepping forward.

Tears began to well up in his red eyes. "I killed Marcel," he admitted. "And Katherine."

Now Hayley's face fell, confused. "You couldn't have killed Katherine. I know you."

"I may as well have," he admitted. "I should have known better." His breathing began to get out of control and Hayley leaped forward, pulling him into an embrace and trying to comfort him, but no comfort was to be found.

* * *

A little later on, Caroline walked up to Klaus's turned back as he leaned against one of the many balconies. He looked like he had on the night of Camille's death, but worse. "I assume Elijah told you," he mused.

"Hayley did," she corrected, crossing her arms and standing next to him. "Klaus, Katherine was my friend."

He almost laughed at that. He eased his hand and let the glass he was holding fall to the floor. "Please," he huffed. "Tonight, I have lost my son. Killed, right in front of me. If you want to tell me what a good person Katerina was, then I don't want to hear it. She cursed me to an extra five-hundred-years of dormancy, she broke Elijah's heart time after time, she has killed millions and blamed me for their deaths. She killed you. You lived with her for a few months and went on a brief road trip. And I have been chasing her for five centuries. I was never going to give that up for you."

"She was trying-"

"No, she wasn't, Caroline!" Klaus exclaimed, turning to her. "She stood on that bridge and told my son to kill me. She was only trying to hurt me. That's all she's ever done. I'm not sorry, Caroline."

There was a pause as she took a deep breath. "I am," she whispered. "About Marcel, I mean." There was another pause. "But Elijah's hurting too, Klaus. You got even. You can't keep blaming him."

"If it had been Hope, would you still defend him?" Klaus asked.

Caroline's eyes widened. "Don't use your daughter like that-"

"Marcel was my child, just like her," he claimed.

She took a deep breath and sighed. "Freya showed me the same prophecy Elijah was worried about," she told him. Klaus ignored her and turned to walk away, but she called after him. "Klaus, after every person of his you have killed, everyone you've maimed and tortured and harassed, he has always forgiven you."

"Why are you defending him?" Klaus asked. "You barely know him. And from the conversation you had with Rebekah just the other day, you _love_ me."

She blinked, shocked that he was eavesdropping, but also stunned by the cold, harsh tone in which he said it. "Don't," she pleaded. "Don't use that to hurt me." She shook her head as she continued talking. "I don't expect you to say it back, but yes. I said I loved you, and I meant it, so please don't use that to hurt me."

"Why not?" Klaus asked, crossing his arms. "If you wanted to, you could hurt me. Easily. You could kill anyone in this house right now, and not even bat an eye."

Caroline paused, scoffing at that statement. When she spoke, she sounded regretful and stressed. "You made the same points to Marcel tonight, and look where that got him. Nothing's changed Klaus, except that now, I am your equal! You can't just stab me with a lamp and then bite me when you don't get your way. And that's not a bad thing!"

"I don't want to live in the same house as someone who can kill us all-"

"I can't," she contradicted. "I can't kill you, and I can't kill anyone you love. Because I love you, Klaus! And I'm not ashamed of that. I'm on your side, always and forever. Nothing has changed and that's why you should trust me. Before I end up like Marcel, you better trust me. Because _I love you_."

There was a slight pause before Klaus leapt forward and kissed her. Hungrily biting her lip and dominating his way into her mouth. She moaned as he shoved her against the balcony, his finger digging into her hips. She reached up and ran her hands through his hair.

They flashed into his bedroom. Klaus lifted her up by her legs and wrapped them around his waist. He sat her on top of her dresser and their lips crashed together again, their arms slinking back around each other. The first touch was like lightning, shooting through her and zapping her every nerve. She felt butterflies come to life in her stomach and her brain starting spinning round and around in excitement.

Klaus nibbled at her bottom lip and Caroline sucked at his top one. They separated for a second so she could lift Klaus's t-shirt above his head, dishevelling his hair just a little as she threw it across the room. She pulled him back to kiss her but her hands went straight to his hard abs, roaming over his hard stomach and admiring every inch.

Her head moved down to kiss his shoulder, biting a little flesh as she felt him push her jacket off. His hands went to the bottom of her t-shirt and she was about to pull away to lift it over her head when she heard a rip. "You're paying for that," she murmured as Klaus took the ruined rags of her shirt and throwing them over his shoulder.

He reached one hand behind her back and expertly flicked open her bra, tossing it over her shoulder and bending his head down. He cups one breast in his left hand, kneading and squeezing, rubbing her nipple between his fingers. His mouth finds her other nipple, flicking it with her tongue and massaging her breasts until she moaned a little.

While Klaus worked, she kicked off her shoes and began trying to pulls down his pants with her feet, being only mildly successful. She saw him kick off his own shoes and he broke away to pull his own trousers off.

Before she could comment on it, she was being picked up again and was laid down on the bed. Klaus reached down to her jeans and prepared to rip them off. "Don't you dare," she growled. "I like these ones." Klaus rolled his eyes and resorted to pulling them off the old-fashioned way, which was, in the case of skinny jeans, a lot of tugging and swearing.

Then, he pulled off her panties, leaving her completely naked before him. He starts at the bottom of her left leg, beginning to kiss his way up. Caroline already felt a strong heat near her core and she was already beginning to get wet, so she didn't particularly need his teasing.

"Can you hurry up please?" she moaned. He did not oblige.

She hooked her toes into his boxers and began to tug them down, seeing the large bulge of his stretching them. He helps her get them off as he continues working his way up, not breaking concentration for even a second. He reached her inner thigh as was a centimetre away from where she needed him to be before he leant back down and started on her other leg.

"Oh my god!" She whined. "Hurry up!"

"Love, I will tie you up and gag you if you don't behave," he threatened, biting her knee before moving onto her thigh.

He finally made his way to her clit and started running his tongue between her folds. Well it took him ages to get going, but once he started there was no stopping him. She moaned and grasped at the sheets as Klaus started flicking her clit with his tongue and her core was burning in pleasure. Her hands ran through his hair, holding his head where it was, needing him to stay exactly there.

Her eyes were closed, her hands digging into her pillows and all she felt was Klaus's tongue on her clit, swirling around and making her sigh – his favourite sound. She looked down at Klaus, wondering if he was looking up at her or at her clit or somewhere else. His own eyes were closed but they flicked open when hers did and they met for a second before he winked at her, his mouth lost in her folds. It was the same wink she fell in love with and the same wink that pushed her over the edge.

Caroline always forgot how good it was until it happened again. She came and Klaus licked up every last drop of her juices. His finger rubbed at her clit, starting the build up for her second one before the first one even finished. He moved his way up her body, beginning to lick and nibble and kiss again until he was sucking the side of her neck, leaving a mark which she, surprisingly, loved.

She reached down his body to gently stroke his member, slowly wrapping her hand around the large, hard length. She moved her hand up and down and he didn't seem to even notice, apart from the growl building up in his chest. They continued to masturbate each other for a minute or two before Caroline placed him as her entrance.

He slipped inside her and gave her a second to adjust to his length. He pulled back, almost all the way out before thrusting in to her again. And again, and again.

He kept rubbing at her clit until he worked up a rhythm, and her nails raked across his chest and shoulder, trying to find a part of him to hold onto until her fingers settled in his hair, pulling and tugging on little strands.

Her core was burning in pleasure, begging Klaus to go harder, faster. But he built up the sensation so perfectly.

They reached their peak together, Klaus's forehead leaning down to rest on hers as they came around each other, letting their moans and groans escape.

"Do," Caroline whispered, breathlessly. "That. Again."

* * *

Kai was getting really tired of big, strong beings attacking him in the middle of the street. He had been hot wheeling it down the highway, heading right back to Mystic Falls to make a little trouble there, when someone punched a hole in the hood of his car and flipped it off the road.

Glass shattered all around him and he took a deep, shocked breath before clambering out of it and turning to face his attacker. Elijah Mikaelson, of all people. "Can I help you?" Kai asked, looking around confused.

Elijah grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pinned him against the wreckage of his car. "You've been to hell and back, and have worked in close quarters with Arcadius, so I'm going to assume that you know a thing or two about the death system. Tell me, what happens to a bad person when Hell is destroyed?"

Kai's eyebrows knitted together and he laughed. "Er, well, Hell can never be destroyed, so your question is irrelevant and you just trashed my car for no reason?"

Elijah paused, taking a deep breath and looking angry and confused. "She killed Cade," he reminded Kai. "He created Hell. It vanquished with him."

Kai blinked. "No," he said, shaking his head. "No, no, no. Okay, so Cade was just leading Hell after he created it. Like Klaus, with New Orleans. Then he left, but New Orleans didn't crumble, did it? Marcel took over, and it thrived."

"So Hell is simply under new leadership?" Elijah summarised.

"If Katherine is dead," Kai said, "and that's just a guess based on your attitude, I would fathom that Hell has never been in better hands. And is currently being run by the most qualified person for the job. The myth." He watched as Elijah's face fell in realisation. "The legend." Now Elijah's face turned almost fearful, and Kai guessed that he really pissed his girlfriend off before she died. "The baddest bitch of all."

"She's alive," Elijah summarised.

"And she's probably coming for you," Kai added, cheerfully.

* * *

 **AN: Shout out to canon S8 Katherine there.**

 **Okay, I've made a decision for continuing this story after 'season 3' of the Originals has finished. I will not be replicating Season 4 of the Originals exactly because that child-sacrifice thing is boring and predictable. But I will be continuing this story. The first bit will be replicating S4, but it will drift away very quickly. It's going to take on a few new plotlines in place of Season 4, and I've got so many notes jotted down for it. I'm not sure if I will publish it as a separate story yet, or if I will just continue updating this one. -Izzy x**


	22. Chapter 21

**I re-wrote this chapter because I hated my original version of it. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-One – The Originals 3x22**

An eye for an eye. A son for a lover. A brother for a brother.

Elijah didn't go home after Kai told him the news. He stayed out and walked (or ran) all over New Orleans, searching every building, every street, and every alley for her. With Marcel gone, Klaus would never stop hunting Katerina for revenge. Elijah would have to run with her.

He was beginning to believe he'd have to extend his search beyond the city and decided to turn in for the night when he finally found her.

Leaning against the wall of an abandoned warehouse in a questionable part of the city, under a streetlight, like it was her spotlight. She smirked sadistically when he noticed her, and twiddled her fingers in a little wave. He crossed the road to her, and she didn't move away, but she did raise her eyebrow in doubt of that move.

"Surprise," she mused. "Bet you thought you saw the last of me."

"I had dreaded such a thing," he admitted, trying to conceal his relief.

She began to laugh but then trailed off in a scoff when she realised he was serious. "Really?" She asked. "I mean, on that bridge, I swore you were trying to get me killed. I mean, I've come to terms with the fact that you're so far up Klaus's ass that if I want a relationship with you, I'll have to bow down to the man who massacred everyone I ever loved, but provoking him? Really?"

"I didn't know that would happen," Elijah said, taking a deep breath and remembering to blink when his eyes grew hot. "I thought the rivalry between you and Niklaus was over, and I never should have underestimated him."

She paused, waiting for him to continue, but he didn't. "That's it? That's what you're sorry for? After all this? Why do you even think I was on that bridge, Elijah? You trusted Klaus when he said that he'd let me live after five hundred years of trying to kill me, but you can't trust me at all? You can't respect me enough to treat me like a person and not a pet?! Aren't you sorry for that?"

Elijah didn't answer for a moment too long as he tried to phrase his apologies without sounding like he was repeating himself. He came short however, and Katherine scoffed.

"You're so predictable," she claimed, shrugging. "But if you're going to apologize, it needs to be for that. It's my fault Klaus killed me. I stood there and threatened him. But by all means, take responsibility for my actions. I am your pet after all."

He looked bewildered at that statement, clearly stunned that his definition of doing the right thing was not entirely appreciated. "Katerina, I-"

"Don't start," she ordered. She held up a hand to silence him but then used it to push him backwards until he collided with the street lamp and she closed the space between them. "Do you know what I am now?"

"The devil," he whispered. "In Cade's place."

"That's right." Katherine giggled and wrapped Elijah's tie around her finger, watching it gently tighten around his throat. "Just think of all of the wicked things I could do to Klaus now."

Elijah snatched her hand and pushed her against the wall of the warehouse again, leaning down to leer at her. "I will pay for my sins against you," he promised, "it is my fault after all. but I can't let you hurt my family."

"And I can't let Klaus get away with killing mine," she contradicted. She leaned close to him, so that his lips were just brushing against his. "Would you?" She whispered. "If my daughter was still alive, and she killed all of your siblings – painfully, at that – would you spare her for me? Would you live peacefully with her? Would you choose me over your revenge?"

He opened his mouth to speak but she pressed a finger to his lips before he could.

"Don't lie to me," she warned. Elijah closed his mouth and chose not to reply. Katherine looked disappointed as she stepped back, but hid it under a hard expression. "I'm going to get my overdue revenge on that bastard," she said, stubbornly. "And if you judge me, then so help me God, I will kill you too."

She strutted away and Elijah let her go. As always, her effect on him left him paralyzed on his feet. He took a moment to catch his breath (her perfume lingered in the air around him) and tried to think about how on Earth he was going to stop her…

And whether he should?

* * *

"Something isn't right," Freya narrated, as she moved some bowls around on her alter. She couldn't stop looking at the spot where Katherine had always sat, holding hands with her to perform a spell together.

"You said you put the prophecy to rest," Kol reminded her, standing on that spot right now, looking quite plain. "So what's the worry?"

"I couldn't sleep last night," she informed him, leaning on the table. "I just had this feeling of dread. I don't know if it's my own guilt, or my intuition telling me that something's coming."

"You did what you had to do, Freya," Finn told her, leaning on the table with her and setting the lit candles in their place over the map. "Davina's death is not on your hands."

Kol ignored him and stepped closer to Freya, admiring the map. "And what's this?" He asked. "You're early morning system?"

She took a deep breath before explaining. "This map is used to trace Niklaus's enemies," she claimed, looking over it. "I can retrigger it, and hopefully put my mind to rest. Prove that I'm just being paranoid."

Kol looked briefly towards Finn, gesturing to him. "And do you need your witch-buddy's help with that?"

"Yeah, she's dead too," Freya claimed, almost snappily, but mainly just out of fatigue. The mention of Katherine hung in the air for a moment before Freya's face fell as she looked over to Finn. "No offence, brother."

Finn just clicked his tongue. "Some taken, actually," he said, turning on his heel and walking out.

Freya went to call him back but changed her mind. She raised her hands over the map and began chanting. Little drops of blood protruded from the soft fabric, like they were emerging from a newly opened wound. Lots of them, scattered all over the planet. They all began to edge towards the USA. Then towards Louisiana. Then towards New Orleans.

"I guess you're not being paranoid when there is in fact a horde of killers out to get you," Kol mused, watching the drops of blood.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Klaus sat against his headboard, watching Caroline as she just started to stir, mumbling slightly. He brushed a strand of golden hair from her face to he could see it better and smiled contently to himself. Then he ran his hand down her bare shoulder and she rolled over to see him.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked, her head still buried in the pillows when anyone else would lean upwards. Her wide blue eyes looked at him, happily. "I generally don't like guys watching me sleep."

"I think that's something you'll have to get used to," he mused, shuffling down slightly so that he was at eye-level with her. "We have eternity, anyway."

"Eternity to fix things," Caroline added, sighing as she remembered everything that happened. "We'll be lucky if we get it all done. But it's possible. You're not alone, Klaus."

He replied simply by leaning forward and kissing her, cupping her face in his hand. He opened his mouth the reply, but the door swung open before he could. They looked up to see Rebekah, leaning against the doorframe and scowling at them.

"Put some clothes on," she ordered. "Family meeting in the courtyard. You and Elijah are going to get along, and if I hear anything else, then I'll kill you both myself." She turned on her high heel and closed the door behind her.

Caroline grumbled something about his sister as she got to her feet, allowing Klaus to see her long legs unfold and her tits perk upwards as she stretched. Before he could admire it for too long, however, the door burst open again and Caroline yelped, wrapping the sheet hastily around herself.

"Are you decent?" Hayley asked, holding Hope in her arm, and covering the little girl's eyes. "Klaus, you're on Hope-duty this morning. Take a shower and take your daughter."

Klaus rolled his eyes and jumped into the adjoining shower, washing the remnants of last night's rendezvous off of his skin and replacing it with the smell of sandalwood, before throwing on a loose Henley and jeans. He met Hayley in the courtyard and took Hope from her as he waited for everyone to assemble.

"You may have had a better life," he whispered to his littlest wolf as he rocked her gently, "had another man been your father. All those who loved me have lived to regret it. But I promise you, Hope, I will do right by you." He looked across the courtyard as Caroline walked in, talking to Hayley and he smiled. "And you," he whispered, knowing she could hear him. She smiled slightly but didn't respond.

"Freya is tracking your former sirelings," Kol told Klaus after explaining to everyone the return of the prophecy. "It won't be long now. Works for me. I could use a good fight." He laid out all the weapons they had on the table and held up a few of his favourites.

"Well, we do have an advantage," Elijah reminded them, picking up and inspecting a gun. "No vampire may enter the stronghold as long as the deed is in Freya's name."

"So what?" Kol asked, looking shocked enough. "We just sit and wait here as our enemies' mass at our front gate?"

Klaus shrugged, innocently. "Well, if they're so determined to die at our hands, then let them come."

"It's come to my attention," Hayley said as everyone sat down – Finn, Caroline, Elijah, Rebekah and Kol – "that we have all made some shitty choices recently. In the name of protecting this family. I'm not passing the blame-"

"Elijah," Klaus interrupted, clarifying.

"You too," Hayley said, pointing at him. "You, and Elijah, and Freya killed Davina to save Rebekah." She turned to Kol, who hung his head. "Now, Kol has been so very, very good and mature. And he's here to help us. Now Elijah killed Marcel to protect Klaus, after Freya confirmed the prophecy. Unquestionably, Marcel would have turned into our enemy."

Rebekah choked slightly when she heard that. She got up to leave, and Caroline followed her, ready to comfort her new friend.

"And Klaus killed Katherine because she was plotting against him," Hayley added, hoping to balance the scales.

"No, he killed her to punish me," Elijah corrected, coldly.

"Okay, Elijah?" Hayley scolded, raising an eyebrow. "Notice how my voice didn't go up at the end of that sentence? It wasn't a question." She looked around the group and sighed. "Jackson. Davina. Camille. Marcel. Katherine. We're all in pain. But we need to stick together. Now, more than ever. So if Kol can come here today, and try his best, then so can all of us. All of us do what we need to, to protect this family. At whatever it costs."

"I don't need to be reminded of how heavy that burden is?" Klaus asked.

Elijah chimed in, shaking his head. "This time, that burden is getting too much to bear."

"Who is Jackson?" Kol asked, after a pause.

"But we're all bearing the same thing," Finn claimed, ignoring Kol and lifting his head for the first time since the silly family meeting began. He looked to Klaus first, and shrugged. "You, Elijah, Freya. You three killed Kol's. Now you've killed Elijah's. But you lost your… Marcel. We're all angry at each other, but we all need each other right now."

"Since when were you so big on family?" Klaus asked.

"I'm not," Finn replied. "As soon as the year of the prophecy is over, I'm gone. But until then, we could all benefit from getting a little big on family."

There was a rumble from upstairs and they all turned their attention to where Freya was supposed to be residing. Klaus, Elijah, Kol and Finn stormed out of the parlour room and into the courtyard, but they were greeted by a large crowd of angry strangers. All enemies of Klaus.

Before Klaus actually entered the courtyard, however, he turned to Hayley and pushed Hope into her arms. "Go underground," he whispered to her and she nodded, turning away from the rest of the family as they were surrounded.

"Never thought it would come to this," Marcel mused as he walked into the compound, followed by more vampires. "But, as always, the Mikaelsons made my choice for me."

"Marcel," Klaus whispered, upon seeing him. "How…"

"How are we in your home?" He asked, shrugging. "I have friends who could close the deed on a property like that." He clicked his fingers to emphasize his point. "Did you mean: how am I not a rotting corpse?"

Klaus took a deep breath. "I thought my friend was dead," he said. "And yet, here you are. So send these fools away, and let's talk."

"Is that relief I hear?" Marcel asked, stepping closer to challenge Klaus. "Really? If I hadn't been one step ahead of you, I would be at the bottom of a river."

"Marcel, your anger is with me," Elijah said, stepping forward to volunteer himself for a fight. "I am the one responsible for this crime against you."

Marcel turned to him, almost laughing. "One thing I've learned from sticking around this family, Elijah, is that taking on one of you means taking on all of you. These guys, Niklaus's sirelings, are here to bear witness today."

"Are you planning to put on a little show?" Kol asked, curiously stepping forward.

Marcel pointed at Kol and smirked. "Damn right, I am. The Fall of the Mikaelsons. And guess what? It's already started."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Upstairs, Caroline and Rebekah found Freya. They heard all the commotion from the courtyard, but agreed that throwing themselves into it would not help the situation. They were gone. That was their advantage for the time being.

Caroline ripped out the heart of the vampire that circled Freya, and Rebekah ran to her sister, pulling her to her feet. "What did they do to you?" She asked, concerned.

"Poison," Freya replied, leaning on Rebekah.

"Let's get you out of here," Rebekah said, leading her towards the door. One vampire ran inside after hearing them and pounced on Rebekah, pushing her onto a nearby coffee table. Freya fell into Caroline's arms, and Rebekah killed him before he could even make a move. Blood splattered across her face and pushed the body off of her.

"Come on," Caroline said, leading Freya out – Rebekah following behind them.

They ended up going to Hayley's abandoned place. It was the flat she shared with Jackson and Hope. But Jackson was dead, and Hayley had taken Hope and ran. So they lay Freya on the couch and Caroline went to go and fetch some water.

"The prophecy is coming true," Freya panted, her skin becoming waxy as a result of the poison. She excepted the water graciously and chugged it. "This is the day the prophecy takes place. The day you fall."

"There has to be some way around it," Rebekah whispered, beginning to pace nervously. "Caroline matches Marcel. We can take on the rest."

"Marcel cannot die, and he will never stop," Freya claimed. "And we don't know what Katherine is capable now." She noted the confusion on Rebekah and Caroline's faces and explained. "She took over as ruler of Hell when Cade died. I saw it in a dream."

"So what do we do?" Caroline asked. "We can't fight our way out of this, Rebekah."

There was a pause before she replied. "Then we talk," she answered, beginning to head towards the door. "Power may not stop Marcel. But I can. Stay here and watch Freya."

-0-0-0-0-0-

"I know you're hurt," Kol claimed, stepping forward to face Marcel head-on. "I loved Davina too. And it would break her heart to see you like this."

"Don't mention her name," Marcel ordered, raising a finger to him. "If it weren't for you, she'd still be alive." His hand was swatted down by Kol, but he continued talking. "You can't shift all the blame on your siblings when you're the one who lost control and killed her in the first place."

"Well, what's done is done," he said, regretfully. "And this is an insult to her memory."

Marcel shoved Kol back and bit into his neck, allowing his new venom to pump through the youngest brother's veins. Elijah leapt forward with rage as Marcel threw Kol against a nearby wall. It was a short fight until Marcel broke Elijah's arm and bit his wrist.

Both of Klaus's brothers cried out in pain and Finn raised his hands to begin chanting but a witch in the crowd raised her own and Finn fell to his knees, screaming in pain. Then she flicked her wrist, and Finn fell across the room with Elijah and Kol.

Klaus felt his fangs drop, his veins bulge and his eyes turn yellow. He growled at Marcel and charged, but before the made impact, a certain blonde came between them – holding open her arms to separate them. "STOP!" Rebekah ordered as a scream.

Silence fell in the compound as everyone watched. Both Marcel and Klaus retreated almost shyly at Rebekah's order.

"Rebekah," Marcel greeted, his eyes narrowing.

"Caroline has Freya," she told Klaus, hurriedly. "Take our brothers and go." When Klaus looked concerned, Rebekah simply flicked her hair and turned to Marcel. "Marcel won't hurt me," she said, confidently. "Not if he knows what's good for him."

After an uneasy pause, Klaus nodded. He flashed over and somehow managed to lift all three of his brothers before running away with them. Rebekah just turned to Marcel and huffed. "Your explanation better be quick and it better be good."

* * *

"It's not here," Freya claimed, defeated as she kicked a box across Lucien's apartment. "There's nothing here." She walked into the other room, where Caroline was trashing the place searching. "I called Lucien, and he said it was in a suitcase in his wardrobe. But it's gone. He lied."

Caroline shook her head, turning to Freya and trying to look comforting. "We'll find it," she promised.

"No we won't," Freya insisted. "And unless I think of something else, I will die."

"FREYA!" Yelled a familiar voice before Caroline could reply. The two women turned to the front door, which burst open. Klaus and Finn pulled Elijah and Kol across the threshold (Klaus having a seemingly easier time than Finn) and they lay Kol on the couch.

"Ugh, I'm going to die," Kol decided.

"You're not going to die," Klaus said, simply, rolling his eyes. "Finn had a bite like this, and he's fine."

Kol blinked, turning to Finn and imagining himself as a human. "I'd rather die," he claimed.

Klaus whacked him upside the head. "I meant, we have hope. Now, Lucien engineered his venom from the seven original werewolf packs. That needs to be the key to a cure." He looked surprisingly optimistic.

"Great," Freya said, plainly as Caroline bit into her wrist and fed her blood to Kol, experimentally. Nothing happened. "The first puzzle piece in a mystery none of us will be alive to solve. I'm poisoned, our brothers are bitten. Two different ailments that need two different cures, both of which could take years to find. And none of us will make it through the day. What happened to Finn?"

The oldest brother panted heavily, falling down onto the couch. His skin was grey and waxy, and he moved like liquid. "A witch," he explained. "She cursed me. I think I'm dying."

Freya rolled her eyes. "Great. Three different ailments. What about Rebekah?"

There was a small pause before Caroline got to her feet and headed towards the door. "I'll make sure she's okay. I can't be killed, I'll be fine." Klaus moved to stop her, but she waved him off. "I'll be back within the hour," she said. "Promise."

* * *

"Let's cut the niceties," Rebekah requested after pulling Marcel into a private room – where all of his minions could overhear them, but they could pretend to have privacy. "I need you to cure my brothers before something is done that can't be undone."

"There's no going back," Marcel informed her. "This is a fight to the death. And I won't lose."

"Why are you doing this?" Rebekah asked, curiously. "Katherine, I can kind of understand. Klaus tortured her for five hundred years. Killed her entire family. Killed her last night. You get into one squabble with them-"

"Don't undermine it," Marcel interrupted her, holding up a hand. "Can you honestly defend them? After what they did to me? To Davina?"

"No," Rebekah answered, shaking her head simply. "I cannot defend them. But they're my family and I'm begging you to cure them."

Marcel paused for a minute, studying the facial expressions of the girl he once loved. "There's no cure. Elijah is as good as dead. So is Kol. Before the night's over, Klaus will follow along with them."

Rebekah ran at him and squeezed his throat tightly, but he didn't even react. "Who is your next victim?" She demanded, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "Me?!"

Marcel's face fell and he spoke softly. "Hey, no," he said, reaching up to pull her hand away from his neck. "I would never hurt you." Then he shook his head as his voice raised. "But I am not backing down. I am taking back my home. My city. My freedom."

Rebekah shook her head, stepping backwards and crossing her arms. "The Marcel that I knew – the man that I loved, never fancied himself judge, jury and executioner."

"You want justice?" Marcel guessed. "That's a hell of a lot more than they offered me. But sure. Let's have justice."

* * *

As Kol lay on Lucien's couch, suffering from Marcel's bite mark, Freya dabbed a cool washcloth across his forehead. "You know," Kol groaned, panting instead of breathing, "perhaps it's fitting that you and I pay for what was done to Davina."

Freya's face fell. "Hey," she whispered. "No. Davina wouldn't have wanted this. She didn't want revenge."

"Just put me out of my misery!" Kol pleaded. "At least put me to bloody sleep!"

Across the open-plan apartment, Elijah was slouched in a dining chair, dealing with his bite a little more gracefully. "Hayley's running with Hope," Klaus informed Elijah as he joined him. "I can get her for you, if you want."

There was a pause before Elijah replied. "I don't want," he answered, simply. "I don't love Hayley. Not anymore. I love her."

Klaus sighed, but refused to get angry about it. "Elijah, she did this to you," he reminded his big brother. "We took her into our home; protected her against the devil himself. You may love her, but I think she was plotting this from the very beginning."

Elijah shook his head, thoughtfully. "No, she wasn't. I know that. I know that she became the person she is today because of me. And I know I deserve this fate." He turned to Klaus and looked sad. "I did this to her. I made her live with the man who killed her family, and then expected her to be happy about it. I chose my family over her every time, and then expected her to choose me, over respect for her own. I didn't trust her when she earned it. I broke her. And now she's breaking me."

There was another pause. "Elijah," Klaus whispered.

"Please, Niklaus," he begged. "Please forgive her. After five-hundred-years, just forgive her. Make peace with her and then let her go free. To live a happy life. I am begging you to do this for me."

Klaus took a second to realise what this was. Elijah's dying wish. How could he refuse? Slowly, he nodded. "I promise you," Klaus agreed, feeling a surprising sense of relief at the end to his war with Katerina Petrova.

"And Rebekah," Elijah pleaded. "Take care of her."

Klaus nodded. "I will. I will make Marcel pay."

"No, no brother, no," Elijah said, shaking his head and pulling himself to his feet, turning around to face him with nothing but regrets. "This was not Marcel. This was me. This was my fault. I did all of this." He breathed heavily, as he struggled with the bite on his arm. "I'm the one who demeaned Kol. The one who daggered Rebekah. I'm the one who killed Marcel. I broke you when I compelled Aurora to leave. I've been tearing this family apart for a thousand years, and I called myself noble. This was all my fault."

Klaus shook his head, in disbelief. "How was this your fault?" He asked. "I'm the one who told you they were at the bottom of the ocean. I'm the one who daggered them in the first damn place. I'm the one who killed everyone Rebekah loved. You never gave up on me, Elijah. And that's my greatest regret: the many times I've let you down. So I don't care about your mistakes, because you never cared about mine. Because you are my brother. And I can't do this without you."

Elijah nodded slightly and walked over to Klaus, hugging him for possibly the last time. Klaus embraced it, allowing himself to be weak in Elijah's arms for a whole minute.

Before either of them could say anything else, Klaus's phone rang in his pocket. He answered it, and Rebekah started talking instantly.

"Nik, there's a bloody riot over here," she claimed, worriedly. "Marcel has them ready to search the city for you, but after a brief chat, he's come up with an alternative. Which I think might be worse. He wants you to come back here and stand trial for your sins."

"In front of a jury of people who hate me the most?" Klaus asked. "I think I'll stay here, thank you."

"If you don't, they'll hunt you down," she told him. "And given their current frenzy and newfound leadership, I doubt they'll be forgiving of anyone who stands in their way." When Rebekah spoke, Klaus's eyes flickered to his three brothers and his older sister, who were sat around the couch, all looking sadly at each other.

He hung up the phone and explained the plan to the lot of them. "That's not a trial," Elijah determined. "That's a suicide. Find Hayley. Find Hope. Take Caroline. Get the hell out of the city."

"No," Klaus said, plainly. "I won't leave you."

Before anyone could add onto that, Kol started having a fit and Elijah and Finn moved to pin him down and keep him still. Freya ran over to Klaus and talked to him under her breath. "There may be a way to save them," she whispered.

"Then I shall move the world to make it so," Klaus declared.

"I need time," Freya warned him.

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "You think I should stand trial before that death-dealing mob?"

Freya paused before slowly nodding. Then she wiped away a tear and gulped. "It's more complicated than that," she whispered. "To give me the power I need to save our siblings then I need you to make it out alive."

* * *

Hayley was so glad she'd chosen to wear boots.

New Orleans's sewers were connected to a series of underground tunnels, used in wars. Or so the people said. Really, they were the escape routes used by the Mikaelsons, should Mikael ever come knocking. Paved with gravel and dust, with narrow brick walls on either side, Hayley ran along these tunnels, covering Hope's sensitive skin and clutching her tightly to her chest. She tried not to use her vampire speed, fearing that the shock would damage her daughter, but she did run as quickly as her werewolf genes would allow her.

When she heard voices down the tunnels, following her footsteps, she growled. And ran a little faster, holding Hope tighter. But it was hopeless.

Her followers were vampires – old ones at that. And if she wasn't going to run with Hope as full speed, then she'd need to stop all together. So, she wrapped Hope's blanket tighter around her and set her down in one corner.

"I'll be back soon, little girl," she whispered, kissing her daughter's forehead before jumping into a round sewer tunnel and facing the horde of angry monsters coming for her.

* * *

When Elijah slept, he was in a field.

Well, not so much a field as a garden. Surrounded by trees and bushes, alive with ripe fruit and beautiful flowers – the markings of a gorgeous springtime. The grass was short and neat, and just where the land rolled into a hill, stood a little stone bench. Famous in the manor, as the bench couples retreated to, in order to enjoy the presence of each other, surrounded by the best possible scenery.

And sat there, was the most beautiful girl he had ever known.

"Katerina," he whispered as a greeting. He was stood, looking down on her as she sat, straightening out the long skirt of her emerald green dress.

She looked up at him as he mentioned her name, and she smiled. "There you are." She laughed slightly and beamed at him. "Sit." She shuffled over, giving him enough room on the bench next to her, and he did as he was told. "I was just thinking about the day I first told you I loved you. Do you remember?"

He nodded slightly, his expression still shocked over her even being there. "How could I ever forget?" He asked. "But do remind me."

She laughed and then he laughed. Her laugh had a habit of making him do that. Her smile was contagious, and her laugh was simply amusing. But seeing her eyes gleam with happiness, could make one's day. "We were both so terrified of saying it," she mused. "Klaus could have found and killed me at any moment, and he could have daggered you for even talking to me after I ran. We could have gotten hurt so easily. We couldn't say it just to get hurt. But our reluctance to say it just hurt us even more. And then one day, in 1643, Klaus had daggered both Kol and Rebekah, and you were hurt, and feeling alone. And I promised you that you would never be alone. Because I loved you. Do you remember what you said in response?"

Elijah nodded, sighing at himself. "Oh, what a fickle emotion as is love."

"And then you left," she added, giving him a pointed glare. "Only on the year 1700, at the start of a new century, did you return the sentiment."

"I have never hidden my regret," he claimed, defensively. "Just because I didn't say it, doesn't mean it wasn't true."

There was a pause as she reached out to take his hand, sighing. "People say I am manipulative, and this is a prime example of such a word," she mused, thoughtfully. "This whole scene. I should have shown myself in a leather jacket and heels, and given us a space we know today. But if this is the end of our love story, then I want it to be here."

Elijah almost gasped as she said that, and only then did he realize what this was. Their goodbye. "The end…" he repeated, thoughtfully. "Why does it have to be the end?"

"Because you're dying," she reminded him. "And I can't save you. And I can't come and see you, either, to say goodbye in person. I have to do it here."

He shook head, gritting his teeth as he tried not to get emotional. "I don't want to die," he admitted. "I want time. Time to earn your forgiveness; I want to give you the life you deserved. You fought so hard, and still you were stuck with my brother."

"No," she whispered. "No, no. These last few months with you have been incredible. The perfect ending to a long story." She took a deep breath, clearly trying to hide the emotion, like him. "I never wanted this. I told Marcel not to move against your life. Any of yours. I wouldn't have been upset if it was Klaus, but you can't blame me for that. You have to believe me, Elijah, I didn't want this."

"I know," he nodded, squeezing her hand. "I trust you."

She swallowed and looked up at him, her big brown eyes welling with tears, but still she smiled. "In these past months… I never told you I loved you." She paused, her smile turning into a grin as she finally said it. "I love you, Elijah Mikaelson. Always have, always will."

He nodded and leaned forward, catching her in a long, sad kiss. When they broke up, his smile matched hers. "I-"

Before he could say those three little words that would end their long, sad story, he was awakened by a distressed-looking Freya at his bedside. "Kol's having another fit!" She told him, urgently. "Come on, I need your help."

She ran out of the room to aid his youngest brother and Elijah couldn't move.

He hadn't said it.

* * *

Klaus arrived at the back entrance of the courtyard and met with Rebekah and Caroline in a corner, far away from the riley crowd of his enemies. He wasn't able to smile at them given what was to come, but he did want to. He walked in front of them and sighed.

"Give us a moment, Rebekah," Klaus requested. His sister nodded and stepped away from Caroline and himself.

"Klaus," the blonde whispered. "It's too dangerous. Please don't do this." There was a pause before he turned to her. She'd been crying, the poor thing. "Or at least let me come with you. We can take them together."

Klaus just shook his head. "No, I need you to do something else," he said. "I may be able to save myself, but my siblings are adorably clueless. You need to save them. With or without the power running in your veins, you are remarkable. You can do it."

He kissed her slowly and attempted to call Rebekah back, but Caroline stopped him.

"Klaus!" She pleaded. "Klaus, please."

There was a pause before Klaus looked into her eyes. When he did, in that moment though, he didn't see the compound, or the angry mob. He saw the same fear on her face. That was the first expression he'd ever seen on her. Those few years ago, the ones that seemed like a lifetime, when he walked into that classroom, and saw Rebekah, and then Tyler and then her. And when he turned to look at her, it was like the very first time.

And that time was almost as magical as his mother's ball. When he turned to face her then, she'd looked so majestic. So utterly beautiful and at ease in his world, yet so out of place. Like a heaven had sprinkled it's like into his dark world, and now he got to enjoy the wonders that was Caroline Forbes.

He'd seen that look of determination before as well. When she lay dying on her birthday from the cruel wolf's bite. She'd been so determined not to give him the satisfaction of begging for her life. So determined not to look grateful when he gave it to her. So determined not to be charmed by his pretty words.

But the look in her eyes… that had come later. When, in the forest, she'd finally told him what she wanted. She finally gave in to those pretty words. She kissed him first and caved to her desires. That was not the first time they truly connected as a pair, but that was the best time.

He took a long, long look at her. Everything about her that made him so enchanted. The shine of her blonde hair, the depth of her eyes, the way her smile – now completely vanquished – could lighten up the entire room. And he remembered something she had said the night before.

Did you love her? Camille?

"It was never Camille I loved," he told her. Her face fell with the realization of what he was telling her and he moved forward, cupping her face with both hands and kissing her forehead. Then he kissed her temple. Then her cheek, and finally her lips. It wasn't a quick kiss like the last one. This one was long. He savored it. It may just be the last one he ever got. "This may be my last chance to say it," he whispered, when they finally parted. "The words I haven't said in centuries. The ones I struggled with for so long."

"You don't have to say it," she whispered, quickly. "I know. I know you do."

He nodded, thankfully. "I do," he promised her. "I really do."

He kissed her again before turning to the door and trying to mimic her expression of determination. But he could never be as strong as her. In fact, when he walked away, and heard her sob, it damn near broke him.

But nevertheless, he moved over to where Rebekah was standing. She was the one who'd march into battle with him.

"Are you ready?" She asked, solemnly.

"Are you?" He retaliated.

Rebekah looked down, hiding a tear behind her hair. "Don't let this destroy you, Klaus," she begged. "It will be hard, but you've suffered worse, I'm sure."

He smirked. "Wasn't it you who once said I could talk my way out of Hell?" He asked.

Rebekah smirked and pulled her brother in for a tight hug. Then she took his hand and lead him before the cheering crowd.

They grew violent the moment he walked in. Their cheers turned to slamming fists and they howled upon the sight of him. They threw things and leered at him, but he only looked upon the roar proudly. He'd made such a cruel bunch.

"Silence!" Called the voice of authority in the room. Marcel raised a hand to hush the vampires, and they silenced to his command. Marcel got to his feet and began walking forward, studying Klaus. "The great Klaus Mikaelson has decided to honor us with his presence." He stopped in front of his sire and grinned, maliciously.

"I have nothing to hide, Marcel," Klaus began, unashamedly. "You wish to put me on trial for all my sins? Have at it."

* * *

When Kol was calm, Caroline called Rebekah, to check in on the situation – and hopefully hear Klaus's voice again, even if it was just in the background. "Is it over?" She asked, desperately. Looking around the table, she noticed how weak everyone looked. Freya's skin was waxy and her eyes were sunken. She held a cool cloth to Kol's face, who was seemingly on the verge of falling back unconscious. Elijah had his head slumped down on the table, and Finn was soothingly trying to rub his back.

"It is," Rebekah informed her, her voice breaking. "Our plan worked." Caroline ran a distressed hand through her hair and released a sigh. "Now it's up to you, Caroline. Make his sacrifice count."

"I will," Caroline promised, nodding. "Hang in there, I'll come and get you soon." She hung up the phone and slipped it back into her pocket, turning to Freya who looked paler by the minute.

"Rebekah's dagger," she requested, clearly too tired to say any more words than were necessary. "It has her blood." As ordered, Caroline handed her the stained dagger and Freya placed it over her name – written in old Norse – on a piece of paper. She panted heavily and coughed as she began to chant.

Elijah lifted his head and reached out to take Kol's hand as the magic began to course it's way through them. They both began to shake with the power, and Finn merely swayed. And then, all at once, they passed out in their seats. Even Freya.

And Caroline suddenly felt so… alone.

She had all her family in Mystic Falls. Her friends were alive and well – save Elena. But she was stood there, alone in that room with four unconscious Mikaelsons, and god did she feel alone. It was her job now, possibly over the next few years, to find a cure for all of these people.

What if she failed them?

What if, because of her, Klaus never got to watch his daughter grow?

Over the next hour or so, Caroline retrieved the four coffins that Klaus had kept his siblings. Rebekah, being unharmed, had no need for hers, so now it hosted Freya, however. She loaded them into the back of a moving truck and took a final look at them all before whispering a promise to all of them.

"I may not know any of you very well," she whispered, "but I swear to you: I will save you. And bring you home." She closed the back of the truck and walked around to the driver's seat, plugging her phone into the system and calling a new friend. "Hayley. Did you make it out okay?"

"Yeah, I did," the wolf said, breathlessly. "I stole a car from an out-of-town dealer and I'm taking Hope North. I'm considering leaving the country."

"Smart." Caroline nodded. "I've memorized your number, so keep your phone for a few days more, okay? I'll put it into my new one, and every few months I'll call you. Update you on what's going on with the cure-search, and… and make sure Hope's okay."

There was a pause, and when Hayley replied, she sounded close to tears. "We can do this, Caroline. I know we can."

"Good luck, Hayley," Caroline wished before hanging up and taking off down the road.

* * *

"Not exactly what I was expecting," were the first words Elijah heard when he opened his eyes. He looked around at the second dream world he'd stepped into that day and smiled. He was wearing clean clothes – his bite having disappeared, and he was standing in a luxurious garden filled with different coloured flowers, and a beautiful fountain. Behind him was a big house – not a mansion, was spacious nonetheless. And it was Kol who spoke, standing a few feet away from him and smiling. "I guess beggars can't be choosers."

"So, you like it?" Freya asked, looking proud of herself as she admired the view. "It's what I always dreamed of." She stepped closer to her brothers and looked almost sheepish as she awaited Elijah's reaction. "A home away from the city. Just family."

"This creation," he mused in response, "is this yours or Niklaus's?"

"We're linked to his life force by the same spell our aunt Dahlia used to keep me alive for a thousand years," Freya explained. "I realized it was the only way. Put us in a deep sleep. Buy Caroline and Rebekah enough time to find cures for us all. My own addition to the spell, however, is that we can remain in here together until we wake."

"To do so," Finn mused, "we'll have to get along."

Kol turned to him and smirked. "I think I could try if you can, brother mine."

Elijah didn't reply. After a while, his siblings began to file into the house to look around, and so, he followed, taking each other's hands as they explored their new home.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two – The Originals 4x01**

Katherine Pierce was the furthest thing from loyal. She was actually known across the world for being the opposite. She manipulated and deceived and rarely ever fell in love, but even when her feelings were true she would always put herself first. Above all. To the outside eye, she had ruthlessly stabbed the Mikaelson's in the back after they offered her a home with them.

But she wasn't loyal to Marcel, either. In fact, during the last four out of the five years, Katherine had turned to deceiving him too. It all started one day in December, and it was Klaus Mikaelson's first Christmas chained in his old son's basement. Marcellus had removed Papa Tunde's blade, but left him chained up to mummify.

Katherine had descended the stairs and didn't cross the line of salt, but she did throw something across it. A blood bag which Klaus devoured in an instant.

"Come to gloat?" He guessed.

"On Christmas?" She asked. "You think I'm that bad?"

"Only because I made you to be," he answered. Then, after a quick pause, he asked: "Is it really Christmas already?"

Katherine almost gleamed happily, but decided to sigh instead. "Caroline's taken a quick break from trying to save you and your siblings and will be spending the day with Hayley, Stefan and Hope in Mystic Falls."

"Don't touch them!" Klaus growled, angrily.

"I wasn't going to," Katherine replied. "I was just letting you know."

"As a threat?" Klaus demanded.

"As a kindness," she replied. "Merry Christmas, Klaus." She took the old plastic bag that she'd given him, so Marcel didn't know what she did, and left him alone to his thoughts.

She returned a few times every year from then. Making sure his mummifying process didn't become too painful. Marcel also revived him every now and then and didn't catch on to the fact that Klaus was never really in pain. And Klaus and Katherine talked.

"Hope's doing well in school, I hear," Katherine would muse. "Came second place in a spelling bee, the winning word being 'airplane'. And she's learning to paint."

"Caroline's found a cure for Freya and asked for my help finding a witch to siphon Rebekah's curse. She even tried to trick me into thinking Stefan was in danger, so I'd go to them. It almost worked. But I'm not helping her."

"So Hayley and Stefan started dating, I heard. I'm not sure how true that is, but they are each other's type. Hayley likes the brooding good brother, and Stefan likes the virginal Mary Sue."

Klaus would listen to these little updates, and he seemed thankful for them. They seemed to calm him. One time, upon his request, Katherine broke into Hope's school to take a piece of her art to show him. One day, he finally asked.

"Why are you being nice to me?"

Katherine was sat opposite him, leaning against the wall as he tossed the emptied blood bag back to her.

She paused, not really sure herself what the answer was, before deciding to speculate. "Maybe because I feel guilty. Before you killed me, you did make amends and gave me a home. Maybe we could have tried harder to make it work. For Elijah's sake. Maybe it's for him. I still love him, you know, and I don't want his brother tortured forever."

Klaus smirked. "If I ever get out of this, I'll make sure Elijah doesn't punish you for too long."

* * *

Hayley was tidying up her attic when her phone rang. She answered immediately upon seeing the caller ID and even smiled into the phone. "Caroline!" She greeted. "Please tell me you have good news."

"That," Caroline allowed. "And some bad. Which do you want first?"

Hayley grumbled as she wiped down Freya's coffin. It was an eerie job, but she refused to let them get dusty. It was disrespectful. And if she ever did go upstairs to see a horribly filthy coffin, she'd only feel terrible about the idea she wasn't doing more to help them – like she'd forgotten about them.

"Bad," she decided.

"Alistair Duquesne," Caroline introduced. "Old, powerful enemy of Klaus's. He's discovered that Elijah is still alive, and believes that we're trying to bring the Mikaelsons back which will inevitably bring Klaus back. According to Katherine, he'll be in New Orleans for the anniversary of their fall, and she believes he'll try to use Klaus's blood to find his family, or even Hope."

"She we be worried?" Hayley asked, tensing up and preparing to grab Hope and run.

"Not yet, I'll let you know," Caroline promised. "But you have your go-bags ready?"

"Yeah, and Stefan and I have an escape plan for the Mikaelsons," Hayley added. "Don't worry about us, just tell us if we need to run again."

"I will," Caroline promised. "Now, the good news. I have a lead on the last Malraux. A med student named Keelin. I was actually hoping you could help me out, as I'm in New Orleans this weekend."

Hayley paused, clicking her tongue. "I don't know. I trust Stefan with Hope, but if that Alistair guy is going to be coming for us, then-"

"That's what I'm going to New Orleans to prevent," Caroline informed her. "I'll be sure to give Stefan plenty of warning if anything goes wrong. I was actually hoping to use you as a decoy for Alistair, so he wouldn't come for Hope."

Hayley thought this over before agreeing. Caroline texted her the information and Hayley left her attic, prepared to tell Stefan and Hope that she was going away for a few days. When she walked into Hope's room, her beautiful daughter was sat on her bed colouring away and lost in thought.

"Hey, honey," she greeted, leaning in the door frame. "I just got a call from Caroline, and she said she needs my help. Would you be okay if I went away for the weekend? You and Stefan would have the place to yourselves."

Hayley knew that when Stefan was alone with Hope they stayed up too late and ate ice cream for dinner, and she didn't mind it because it happened so rarely and it usually meant Hayley could slip away without too much trouble.

"Where are you going?" Hope asked, perking up.

"Not far," Hayley promised. "I'll be close by if you need me."

"Are you going to get my Dad?" Hope asked.

Now Hayley hesitated, not wanting to get her hopes up, but also not knowing how to explain why she'd have to leave so suddenly. "Maybe," she settled. "But I'm pretty sure we'll get your aunts and uncles back quite soon."

Hope smiled. "Okay, Mommy."

Hayley gave her a big kiss on the forehead before turning out of the room and towards Stefan in the hallway, who was watching her happily. She gestured towards her bedroom and he followed her inside.

They started dating each other after Hayley and Hope had been in Mystic Falls for three years. They saw each other every day, he was a regular babysitter, and he was great with Hope. And he just… understood her better than anyone had since Jackson. She felt safe with him, and didn't want to leave him. However, they had very strict terms for their relationship.

No moving in together. Even though Stefan was over so often, he wasn't allowed to stay the night for more than three nights a week. They didn't kiss in front of Hope. As far as she knew, they were just close friends. No thoughts of their future. Since Hope's father was away, it didn't feel right for Hayley to have Stefan around so much. She didn't want to replace the father figure in Hope's life. She didn't want Hope to start seeing Stefan that way. She needed to bond with Klaus first before accepting Stefan as Hayley's boyfriend, so until Klaus was returned home, Stefan and Hayley's relationship was standing still. And their most important rule?

Absolutely no use of the 'L' word.

"Caroline gave me a lead on Keelin Malraux, the last of the seventh werewolf pack," Hayley informed him. "It shouldn't take me the weekend to get what I need from her. But then, after we wake up the Mikaelsons, we may have to charge New Orleans, so I don't know how long I'll be away."

"I don't mind," Stefan assured her. "Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"Watch your phone," Hayley suggested. "Caroline will call you if you and Hope need to move, so don't hesitate when it rings. You know where her go-bag is?"

"Under the floorboard of your closet, I know," Stefan promised her. "She'll be fine. I've been avoiding trouble for over a century and a half. Just promise me that you'll be okay."

"I will be," Hayley claimed. "I always am."

* * *

Caroline was waiting at the back of Rousseau's for Marcel to arrive, sipping on a glass of red wine and watching at Josh pottered around with boxes, unstacking new stock. Witches, werewolves, vampires and all-knowing humans were drinking in harmony in this bar now, all talking happily about the anniversary of Klaus's take down.

"Your royal highness," Caroline greeted, feigning a look of shock and humbleness as Marcel finally showed up. "Thank you for gracing me with your presence."

Marcel scowled and sat opposite her. "You can take it down a notch. And while the peace in this city that I've accomplished is worth praise, I don't need ingenuity. I'm guessing you're here to debate the terms of Klaus's stay this year?"

"Marcel, you have taken everything from him," Caroline reminded him. "You need to step back and let him lick his wounds. Do not put him on display for everyone to gawk at him."

"Yeah, and I agreed to that last year," Marcel reminded her. "And the year before. And the year before. But this is year five now. It's a milestone and people want to celebrate it. They deserve to celebrate it."

"And what about Klaus?" Caroline asked. "Doesn't he deserve the slightest bit of decency? Just the tiniest bit? After everything you've put him through in the last five years, can't you just grant him a little privacy?"

Marcel paused, scratching his eyebrow. "If people never see him locked up, they'll stop believing me. And then they freak out, and this city loses it's peace."

"The Mikaelson's are gone," she reminded him. "By force or choice, who cares? The point is that they're not bothering anyone, why would anybody fight against that? And you really want a peaceful community where people laugh and gawk and throw things at a man in pain? Is that the kind of peace you want?"

Marcel sighed before relenting. Him and Caroline were still of the same species and strength – he couldn't fight her on everything. She couldn't really win against him for Klaus every day of every year, because Marcel had the whole supernatural community on his side, whereas Caroline just had herself. But she did have some power.

"Fine," he agreed. "Is there anything else?"

"Alistair Duquesne," Caroline said, without hesitation. "I heard he's going to try and come after Hayley, and I'm not having that. I know that you don't want that either, so what are you going to do to stop it?"

"He isn't going to get to Klaus," Marcel promised her. "And if he does, no witch is going to help him, not while Vincent's still around."

"Yeah?" Caroline asked, cocking her head. "I have a better idea."

She left Marcel at the bar and went back to the old, miserable, deserted compound. It was still a wreck from the fights that broke out five years ago. Caroline wanted to tidy it all up, imagining them all coming home one day, but she knew that would be suspicious to Marcel, so she let it get old and dusty. She walked down to the basement, past the eerie creaking black gates and pushed open the one that had Klaus behind it.

He looked up when she walked in, and cracked the smallest of smiles. It must have been a few days since Marcel fed him, because he looked okay, but certainly worse-for-wear.

"Hey," she greeted, handing him a blood bag through the salt line.

"Hello, Love," he said, draining the blood in one go and standing up to face her. "How are you?"

She took a deep breath before answering honestly: "I miss you. I want you in my life, and I don't want to settle for you not being there. I promise, I'll get you out soon."

Klaus raised an eyebrow optimistically. "Is that so? Well, not to be a downer, Caroline, but you did say that five years ago, and here we are." He looked around a if trying to see the barrier that kept them apart.

"This close," Caroline mouthed, happily, holding up her fingers less than an inch apart.

Klaus's eyes narrowed, realising that she meant it. It wasn't a musing, but a plan. She was really going to get him out soon. "How long?" He whispered, knowing that the city above them was covered in supernatural beings, and all the privacy they had down there should never be tested.

"The weekend," she breathed. "I give you my word. In the meantime, I made a deal with Marcel to get you a little fresh air. I'm going to be warding off your old enemies all night, but there's one in particularly who I suspect might be giving us a little too much trouble: Alistair Duquesne. Either of us could kill him, but Marcel doesn't want a war with him, and I agreed to the terms so that we can have our privacy tonight. We want Alistair to get in line."

"And that's my problem, why?"

"Because he's a threat to Hayley," Caroline told him. "And by extension, Hope. Now, listen. I've done my research on the guy – he's a vain, proud aristocrat, who's only got worse with time. We want you to knock him off his high horse."

* * *

Hayley said goodbye to Hope and Stefan as she loaded the coffins of the Mikaelson's into the back of her van. She told Hope to listen to Stefan while she was away and promised not to come back alone. She'd said goodbye to Stefan upstairs so they didn't have to show too much affection in front of Hope, but she did give him one last hug before leaving.

The drive to Austin, Texas, was almost a full day, and by the time she came to a stop at the little bar she'd followed Keelin to Hayley was exhausted, even for a hybrid. She twisted her old wedding ring around her finger and watched as her target downed another shot before heading to the bar, offering to buy the next round for her friends. "Pull yourselves together," she joked as she left the group.

Hayley got up and headed towards her, leaning on the bar and ordering herself a beer. "You look like you're having fun," Hayley observed, looking over Keelin with slight interest. So this was the girl who was going to piece her family back together? "What's the occasion?"

"I just finished my residency," Keelin replied, her eyes looking Hayley over and not in the same kind of way. She wasn't sizing up an enemy, she was checking a hot girl out. Interesting. "Which means I'm an official ER doctor."

"Congratulations," Hayley said, bored. The number of werewolves she knew who went into the medical industry was silly. In certain parts of Tennessee, if you had to go to the hospital you could be almost certain that your doctor was a wolf every month.

"Thank you," Keelin said.

"Does it help with the guilt?" Hayley asked, remembering how all those doctors had opened up to her and Tyler Lockwood, years ago. "Given what you are?"

"Excuse me?" Keelin asked, clearly taken aback.

"Keelin, you need to listen to me," Hayley claimed.

"How do you know my name?" She demanded.

"Got it from a friend," the hybrid explained. "She said your grandma's maiden name was Malroux?"

Without hesitation, Keelin turned to leave and Hayley had to grab her arm and pull her back, much more aggressively than she would have liked. "You better back off me," Keelin warned, her eyes glowing yellow.

"I wish I could," Hayley returned, allowing her own eyes to do the same. "I need a favour, five minutes outside, I can explain."

Keelin finally relented and lead Hayley to an alleyway behind the bar, filled with crates and dustbins and old cabinets. Before she allowed Hayley to speak, however, Keelin elbowed her in the face and took off, jumping over all the rubbish and running as fast as she could. When she jumped over the brick wall at the end, she wasn't expecting to land right in front of a perfectly fine Hayley.

"Don't do that again," Hayley requested.

"I'm not going without a fight," Keelin promised, growling lowly.

"Will you relax?" Hayley asked, rolling her eyes. "I'm not here to fight you, I need you! You're the last of your pack which makes you too special to explain."

"I don't care about your problems-"

"You should," Hayley told her. "Because there are others that know how important you are, and they will come for you. And I promise they won't be as nice as me."

"I have a life here," Keelin told her. "Career, relationships. If someone wants to take that, they're going to have to kill me."

Hayley paused, hearing the voices of men preying on them, closing in on them, plotting to kill them. "I'm sorry," she said, honestly to Keelin. "We don't have time for this." She knocked the other wolf out and flung her over her shoulder, running off before the men could catch them.

* * *

Klaus had requested that Caroline pass along a message about Alistair, which lead to Marcel throwing him a party to welcome him into the city. And to stroke his ego. However, this didn't solve their problem – it was actually far from it. Alistair had issued a challenge to Marcel, and demanded to see Klaus before the end of the night, and Marcel wasn't happy about it. He stormed the dungeon of the compound, where Klaus was chained and demanded an explanation.

"Can I assume your gathering for Alistair was a raging success?" He asked.

"Alistair doesn't give a damn about having his ego stroked," Marcel informed him. "He used the party for the audience so he could throw down a challenge. Is that what you intended?"

"How difficult to be king," Klaus mused. "An outsider challenges your rules, and you have no one to offer counsel."

Marcel smirked. "You think I don't know? The day after I bit Elijah his sireline should have died, but they're still out there. So I had Vincent cast a spell to figure out how that could be, and it turned out that the lives of your siblings are linked to you. Now I don't give a damn about the others, but I'm not going to let anything happen to Rebekah."

"Lucky for me, my sister still holds your fancy," Klaus mused. "You may have no choice but to kill poor Alistair. Ah well, heavy head, heavy crown, etcetera."

"If I kill Alistair, his theory gains attention," Marcel claimed. "His vampires swarms the city, overtakes me, and all they need is a drop of your blood and then their witches can track your family – even Hope. But hey, I guess that's my problem, right?"

"Marcel!" Klaus exclaimed, as his protégé turned to leave. "You don't know Alistair. To defeat him you need me."

Before either of them could say anything else, Caroline walked back in, hanging up her phone and throwing Klaus the dead body of the man she'd killed outside for him to feast on. "I just got off the phone with Hayley," she claimed. "Two of Alistair's guys found her."

Klaus glowered, instantly fuming. "Is Hope okay?"

Of course it was just an act. He knew that Hope was with Stefan, and Hayley was in Texas, but they didn't need Marcel to question what Hayley was up to, so for all he knew, the mother and daughter were together.

"They're both fine, Hayley killed them," Caroline claimed. With a relieved sigh, Klaus bit into the still warm body and drank. "We need to do something."

"Marcellus," Klaus said, taking a break from his feast, "if you want this predicament to remain in tact, in which Caroline and I stay on either side of a salt line, only to see each other a couple of times per year, then you need to let me help my daughter. Just this once."

"You're offering me a deal?" Marcel asked, raising an eyebrow in doubt.

"One you can't refuse," Klaus explained. "They hate me for my strength, and now they know creatures such as the two of you. Men like that only speak one language and I speak it fluently. Release me, and I'll lay waste to the lot of them."

* * *

Keelin woke up near nightfall, and rattled the chains that held her to a chair. They were in an abandoned warehouse near the railway and could hear trains in the distance. Hayley had set up shop, going through all the things she needed to raise the dead.

"Relax," Hayley ordered as Keelin started panicking in her seat. "I'm not your enemy. If I had left you where you were, you'd be dead already."

"Let me guess," Keelin requested. "We're on the run from vampires?! You have the same stink they do."

"I'm special," Hayley explained, turning to face her. "I'm a hybrid. Half vampire, half werewolf, and considering I just saved your ass, you should show me some respect."

"How do I know you're not the one that lead them to me?"

"Does it matter?" Hayley asked. "They know who you are and they want you dead. The only way to survive is to do exactly what I tell you."

"Like I have a choice," Keelin said. She watched as Hayley removed a mask and tubes from her duffel bag and her face fell. "Look, I don't know what kind of pervy stuff you're into, but I'm not that kind of girl."

"This is a device to extract your venom," Hayley informed her, scowling. "And before you ask – yes, it will hurt."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Keelin demanded, her voice cracking.

Hayley paused and walked over to where she had lined up the coffins of the Mikaelsons, and covered them with a plastic tarp. She removed this and opened up the first coffin, which housed Freya. "I'm trying to save my family," she explained. "Keelin, the people in these coffins are dying. The only thing keeping them alive is a sleep spell, and the only one that can sure them is her. She's a witch and she gave me instructions on how to wake her up early; the only thing I'm missing is your venom. When she's on her feet, I can give her the ingredients I got and with any luck no one has to die."

"So if I give you what you want," Keelin said slowly, "you'll let me go?"

"You have my word."

It only took five minutes from there for Hayley to extract the venom from Keelin, and she promised to let her go as soon as she knew it worked.

"When will that be?" Keelin asked.

"You'll know when you see it," Hayley promised.

"You have to wake up sleeping beauty, right?" Keelin asked, nodding over to Freya's coffin and looking concerned. "How do you do that?"

Hayley found herself rolling her eyes again as she walked over to Freya's coffin with a syringe. "You know, you ask a lot of questions," she mused. She plunged the syringe into the witches heart, and once she woke up, they only had a second to reunite before Freya set off to work.

"You have all the ingredients?" She asked. "Good. If I can't turn that into a cure, Elijah and Kol are going to die."

"How long do we have?" Hayley asked.

"An hour," Freya said, setting up the pentagram and getting prepared. "Assuming they live that long. Venom from the seven packs, along with Klaus's blood, infused with my magic and magnified by the dark objects. It's going to take all my strength, but it should be enough to fashion a cure."

"Will you be okay?" Hayley asked.

"Hopefully," Freya admitted, not looking Hayley in the eye.

"I'm sorry we couldn't wake Finn up to help you," Hayley admitted. "Caroline just said to wake you up."

Freya shrugged. "I knew what I was getting myself into. And if I don't make it, I can't imagine a better reason to die."

"Don't say that," Hayley demanded. "Elijah and Klaus wouldn't forgive me if I let that happen! There's got to be something. Could you channel me?"

"No, for this it has to be another witch," Freya explained. "I wish Katherine was still on our side. We clicked really well."

"Wait," Keelin interrupted, her eyes narrowing. "Katherine Pierce?"

Hayley and Freya's faces fell as they exchanged a look. "How the hell do you know that name?" Hayley demanded, storming over to where Keelin was sitting.

"We slept together about a year ago," Keelin explained. "Hold up, she said your name was Freya? Is that Freya Mikaelson?"

Freya raised an eyebrow, looking completely bewildered and getting to her feet to join Hayley, looking down on the werewolf. "Yeah, it is," Freya claimed. "How do you know that?"

"Well, you're Kat's ex, right?" Keelin asked. "She said you totally broke her heart, and she gave me your necklace." She looked down at the pendant resting on her own chest and up to Freya. "Don't you recognise it?"

"I do, it's Katherine's," Hayley said. "It was on Elijah's nightstand the day after… Okay, yes, I was snooping. I still liked him at the time, I'm over it now, can we move on?!"

"Why would Katherine give you her necklace and say it was mine?" Freya asked.

"She wants you to use it," Hayley claimed. "It makes sense! She's smart, we know that, and we know you can't do this by yourself. This is Katherine trying to help you. You can channel her through that, right?"

"I mean," Freya said, hesitating. "Yeah, but she was the one who did this in the first place. Why would she want to help us now?"

"She did this to hurt Klaus, but she loves Elijah," Hayley reminded her. "I know Caroline went to her for help for a couple of times, and once we even used Stefan Salvatore to get her attention. Look, just have a little faith. Use the necklace. We don't have time to debate this."

Freya nodded before ripping the necklace from Keelin, who wasn't very happy about it, and lacing it through her fingers as she went back into the pentagram and was about to say something else before the sound of vehicles rolling into the warehouse interrupted them.

"We got company," Hayley narrated.

"Hayley, please let me go," Keelin pleaded. "If it's vampires, they'll kill me."

"I need more time," Freya claimed, nodding to Hayley. Hayley nodded back and ran off to meet the men.

* * *

Caroline stayed to the back of the compound as she watched the vampires flood in, standing like an audience around the circle of salt Vincent had prepared. Alistair walked up to Marcel to greet him, and nobody paid too much attention to her.

"Marcel," Alistair said. "I had hoped your invitation to this ruin was your way of coming to your senses, but I don't see Klaus Mikaelson's head on a spike."

"Apologies," Marcel said. "I have been a discourteous host." He flashed out of the room and came back with Niklaus, leading him by his chains. He threw him into the circle of salt, at Alistair's feet. "You want him? You got him."

"Oh, Niklaus," Alistair greeted. "How the mighty have fallen."

"Pretty pathetic," Marcel agreed. "Chained, beaten, half starved. I should just kill him. Like a wise man once said: one cannot be free if one's oppressors continue to live. And what I've learned is that the best way to face your fears is to face them yourself." He paused as Josh bought him a sheathed sword, which Marcel revealed to Alistair. "So for you, a gift. The sword that you gave me, now laced with my venom. One slice will draw Klaus's blood, and deliver to him the slow, agonising pain of death that he deserves."

"It would be my highest honour," Alistair said, taking the sword. "You looked frightened, Niklaus. So you should be. Don't think I didn't notice that baby vampire of yours over in the corner. Caroline Forbes? I've been searching for her for five years, and once I'm done with you… oh she can run, but she won't get far."

"I'm not running anymore," Caroline promised, from the side lines. "I wouldn't want to miss this." She winked at her man proudly and crossed her arms in preparation.

Alistair didn't ponder on this too long. He entered the circle and kicked Klaus hard in the stomach. He flew against the barrier and while it was hard to watch, Caroline knew it was an act. Klaus groaned in pain and curled up on the hard ground where he was beaten by Alistair with the handle of the sword.

"Do you suffer, Niklaus," Alistair mused, "as my wife suffered? As my child suffered?" He grabbed Klaus by the hair and forced him to look at Alistair in the eye. "Yeah, you do," he growled, inches from his face. "But I do believe at a long last, your suffering is at an end."

"Kill him!" People in the crowd cheered.

"Do you hear that?" Alistair asked. "The people have spoken. Now, honour would dictate a request for your last words, but you deserve no such privilege. Instead, I want the last words you ever hear to be my solemn vow. I will find your daughter. And when I do, I will eradicate your malignant bloodline from this Earth."

He swung the sword high, but before it could land back down, Klaus swung his chains around Alistair's feet, knocking him down. He pounced on his victim and bit into his neck, draining him of blood and spitting out the flesh.

Two men jumped him, but Klaus picked up the sword and slaughtered them in a second. He turned to the rest of the crowd, who were preparing themselves for a fight. Some looked ready to flea, but Klaus turned to Caroline.

"You can take the ones that won't dare, right?" He checked. She nodded and moved to stand next to his circle, allowing her eyes to glow red, and the blood flow show veins down to her chin. "See, what some of you may not know," Klaus called to the crowd. "Is that my baby vampire is not a baby anymore. You ready, sweetheart?"

"Let's go," she agreed.

Between the two of them, everyone died a miserable death. If their hearts weren't ripped out or their heads chopped off neatly by the sword, they were withering in pain on the floor of the compound due to a nasty werewolf or upgraded-original bite.

Once they were done, and covered in blood that wasn't theirs and without a scratch on them, the couple turned to Marcel and Vincent and Caroline grinned.

"I would go, boys, if I were you," she mused. "Because I'm about to enter this circle. And I'm not going to leave _all night_."

Marcel and Vincent (and Josh, who everyone seemed to have forgotten about) evacuated quickly before Caroline did what she promised.

-0-0-0-0-0-

While Hayley killed everyone that threatened her daughter, Freya worked her magic and cured her siblings. There were some quick and happy reunions between them and Hayley before the werewolf picked up her phone and called Caroline.

"They're awake?" She asked. "Are they okay?"

"Yeah, they seem fine," Hayley replied. "Rebekah and Kol have gone to go eat, Elijah's fed and is making plans with Freya. How's everything in New Orleans?"

"Busy," Caroline replied. "It's about time for an invasion. I'll keep the main powers occupied tomorrow. Clue me in on your plan once you come up with one."

"I will," Hayley said. "Just one more thing: how did you find out about Keelin?"

Caroline paused, sucking her teeth before finally answering. "It's complicated. I'll tell you about it another time. Hey, um, do you want to talk to Klaus? Or does anyone?"

Klaus shook his head over Caroline's shoulder, and even Hayley said no. "We've got a lot going on right now, and I don't think it's safe to talk to Klaus before we get him out. But we should see him tomorrow."

"We can't wait," Caroline said. "I'll see you then." She hung up the phone and slipped it back into her pocket. She was lying half-naked on the floor of the compound, leaning against Klaus's chest as their fingers intertwined. "You know," she mused, "if you told eighteen-year-old me that I would eventually be lying on the floor of New Orleans, surrounded by dead vampires, covered in the blood of our enemies, and lying in your arms… I don't think I would have believed you."

"It's truly remarkable how time works," Klaus agreed. "But we should probably prepare for Marcel's return. It's time for the beast to get back into the cage."

"It's only for one more day," Caroline promised. "And then everything will go back to normal."

"I'm sure of it," Klaus said. "But remember to act like you don't know that. Some tears would be fantastic."

The two of them got up and prepared themselves before Vincent returned to free them, and Marcel returned to chain Klaus back up in the dungeon. Caroline even faked a tear saying goodbye to him and waited outside for Marcel to pass her.

"I understand, you know," she said as he walked past. "Why you hate him. So… thank you. It's a kindness that you let us have this night together. But mark my words, if it takes a year or even a century, I will free him."

"I look forward to watching you try," Marcel said, before stalking off to re-join the rave Josh was throwing.

* * *

"Let me go," Keelin requested. "I gave you people what you wanted, now we had a deal-"

"I barely had enough anti-venom to cure my siblings," Freya informed her, rolling her eyes. "If one of them ever get bitten again, we'll need more. Which means that you need to stay alive and I don't trust that you can do that without our help."

"But I had a deal-"

"With Hayley," Freya finished, taking advantage of the fact the hybrid was outside and not there to pick a fight. "When it comes to my family, I don't negotiate."

Outside, Hayley walked towards Elijah, who was watching the flames that trickled over the bodies of the people they had killed. "You're infections gone," she claimed, checking his arm.

"You saved us," Elijah claimed. "All of us."

"Well, Caroline did most of the work," Hayley explained with a humble shrug. "I just finished it off."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Well where is she? I would like to thank her as well."

"New Orleans," Hayley explained. "For the first two years she did nothing but try and kill Marcel and save Klaus, while I focused on saving you guys. I didn't get very far, and neither did she. Marcel and Vincent shot her down every time, but she caused them a lot of trouble while they've been trying to make peace, so they made a deal. Every year, on the anniversary of his downfall, Caroline can see him. She visits some other times, Marcel can't stop her, but he doesn't try anymore. I heard it's been keeping him sane."

Elijah nodded. "And…"

"Katherine?" Hayley guessed. "I'm not sure where she is. Last I heard, she was in Dallas, a year ago."

"Here?" Elijah checked.

Hayley nodded. "She dropped off a gift for Freya, which gave her he strength she needed to stay alive through all of this. I also suspect she gave Caroline the lead to Keelin. I think she regretted her role in all of this and wants you back."

Elijah smirked. "I'm sure she'll come and find me if she does. What else is new?"

"I'm um… sort of dating Stefan Savatore," she said, unsure. "I don't really know how that happened. But he makes me happy, and he's great with Hope. Who's amazing, by the way. Healthy, happy. She's the perfect little girl."

There was a pause before Elijah smiled. "Look at us," he mused. "I thought I was beginning to love you, once. I must have forgotten what real love felt like."

"Yeah, I thought so too," she agreed. "But we make better friends. Now, I think we're missing someone. Let's go get Klaus."

* * *

 **AN: Surprise bitch, bet you thought you saw the last of me. So I'm bringing this one back, and I'm re-writing my re-write of Season 4, and keeping the same sort of frame as canon, with the Hollow and all, but I'm going to do things pretty differently. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Don't forget to review, otherwise I might stop being motivated to please you people. -Izzy**


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three – The Originals 4x02**

Stefan woke up to the sound of screaming, followed by some light muffled crying. He flashed upstairs and appeared in the doorway to Hope's room in a second, where she sat on the bed hugging one of her teddy bears and rocking slowly back and forth.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked, rushing to her side a little more slowly as to not frighten her. "What happened?"

"I had a bad dream," Hope admitted. "There was a boy in a blue room, and a picture of a snake."

Stefan narrowed his eyes as he sat on the edge of the bed. This didn't sound like a conventional nightmare for little kids. "Well at least it was a picture," he soothed, comfortingly, "and not a real snake."

"This was worse than a real snake," Hope insisted, shaking her head. "It was like the ones in my drawings." She pointed to the floor where she'd painted and sketched a dozen pictures of a snake biting its own tail. Stefan knew enough about the supernatural world to know this wasn't just an ordinary dream.

"Well you're safe with me, sweetie," he said, as she leaned in for a hug. "I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

The Mikaelson clan ended up on the side of the road next to a wooded area. From deep within, the screams of Kol's victim could be heard, and on the side, quite close to a lake, it was annoying the others.

"Good Lord, that one has some lungs on him," Rebekah observed. "He should have been an opera singer. It might have ended better for him."

"Is this really necessary?" Finn asked, looking in disgust at the dead bodies that were piling up around them.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Well, that depends. Do you want us at our full strength, or do you plan on rescuing Klaus on your own?"

"Freya and I are trying to concentrate," Finn explained, scowling deeply. "The screams of the innocent are quite distracting and we're trying to break a cloaking spell. Not to mention unnecessary and cruel."

"Kol!" Elijah yelled into the woods. "Will you _please_?!" After a second, they heard the noise of a crack and the screaming ceased. "Thank you," Elijah said. "You were saying?"

"I can sense Klaus is still in New Orleans," Freya chimed in, walking towards them. "However, I've been a little off my mark since last night, and I can't tell exactly where. Can you call Caroline and get the situation?"

"The more I call Caroline, the more dangerous it gets for her," Hayley said. "I'll text her, but we can't rely on her too much. Caroline's also supposed to be leaving today, so we have to act fast."

"I'm not planning a pub crawl," Freya said. "I don't want to stay any longer than we have to, but we need to go."

Kol emerged from the forest, covered in blood and looking very confused. "Wait, wait, wait," he said. "We're not doing this today, are we?"

"Hasn't Nik suffered enough?" Rebekah reasoned.

"Yes, but I've died twice," Kol reminded her. "I'm not about to play my luck again. I say we draw that muppet out of town, and when he's gone-"

"I have been away from my daughter long enough," Hayley told him. "If you're afraid-"

"It's called being sensible," Kol corrected. "Until Freya makes enough cure with her werewolf hostage, Marcel can basically chew through our bloody throats."

"Enough," Elijah declared, getting to his feet. Everybody stopped to listen to his decree as the obvious ruler of the family. "We free Niklaus today, even if I have to burn that city to the ground."

* * *

Josh was lounging around his penthouse with his newest boyfriend when he heard it – the slightest whoosh that indicated a vampire nearby. A human wouldn't have heard it, but it was remarkable what vampires picked up on.

"Sorry," he said, instantly. "I just remembered I have a shipment of, uh, stuff coming in. Plus, I also have to go to the bank and get change. You know, dimes, nickels, pennies. Like, doesn't anyone just use a credit card anymore?" As he rambled he collected his dates jacket and nudged him closer towards the door, interrupted him before he could say anything and preparing him to leave. "I will text you, okay? I promise." He closed the door on him and sighed at how terribly that went before turning to his apartment. "Well thanks for waiting," he said, "and not just killing him."

"We're only monsters by necessity, Joshua," Elijah said, leading himself and Rebekah down the steps and into the living room.

"Besides, we just ate," Rebekah added.

"Aw, that's too bad," Josh said. "I was going to offer you some welcome back waffles."

"Was that your boyfriend?" Rebekah asked, threateningly. "He seemed sweet. And terribly vulnerable as humans tend to be.

"Okay, I get it," Josh said, quickly. "Just tell me what you want."

Rebekah and Elijah got a quick briefing from Josh about what's what in the city, before Rebekah interrupted with her plan. "I'll distract Marcel," she suggested. "I'm the only one he won't kill on sight."

"Don't talk to me about some ludicrous diversion, you're walking into a lion's den," he informed her, in an attempt to silence her.

As they argued over the rationality of Rebekah convincing Marcel that she was alone and only there to talk, Josh slowly reached for his phone, but didn't get very far with it before Elijah said: "Wouldn't you agree, Joshua?" He practically seethed saying his name, and Josh got the message, setting his phone back down. Elijah took the phone, slipping it into his own pocket. "Why do you guys even need me?" He asked. "I know I'm adorable, but I'm extremely small potatoes."

"You're Marcel's trusted friend," Rebekah reminded him. "We were planning on getting everything you know and then using you as collateral, but since you know so little, I would like to try my plan."

"Before you do this," Elijah warned, "I want you to consider the risk."

"I have," Rebekah said. "I won't allow my family to face that risk. Besides. I know someone who can back me up quite well."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Kol scoped the bell tower out before Freya and Finn entered, making sure he wouldn't need to kill anything so they could do their spells in peace. "This is absolutely where you had to do you magic?" He asked.

"Well, when I first became a human, I prepped this place," Finn explained. "Marked it with my magic and made it mine. Since Freya's room is in the compound and inaccessible, it has to be here."

"This dusty bell tower might be your own, but this is Marcel's city and we're nothing but targets," Kol reminded him.

"All the more reason to let us get to work," Finn snapped, "so we can get out sooner rather than later."

Freya rolled her eyes at the two of them and reminded them: "Hayley's gone to get Caroline. She should be here to watch our backs soon enough. In the meantime, I need to know where everyone is. Marcel, Vincent, the witches. We need to know where it's safe and where it's not."

Just as she said that, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Hayley's number popped up with the message: _Rebekah's going to meet Marcel, so Caroline's going with her. I'm coming to pick you guys up before we meet with Elijah._

Just after reading that, Rebekah texted with: _Marcel's location?_

Freya wanted to call her and argue that it was a dumb plan, but she assumed she'd heard it all before, so she just set to work with Finn on the locaters spell and texted the address to Rebekah.

To get from the bell tower to Rousseau's unnoticed, the three siblings put their hoods up and sunglasses on and pretended to be hungover tourists, even pulling out a map to navigate the streets they knew too well. Elijah and Hayley met them there, after Josh had cleared the place out.

"So, what now?" Josh asked them all.

"Would you be so kind as to move that freezer unit so that we might be able to access the tunnels?" Elijah asked politely, although they all knew he wasn't really asking.

After a moments hesitation, Josh did as he was told and Kol turned to his family. "Are we absolutely certain we're looking in the right place?"

"The tunnel goes through the city, Marcel must have carved out a section to work as his personal dungeon," Freya narrated. "Genius. And sadistic."

"Save the compliments for when he comes to kill us," Kol requested. "Your flattery may give him pause."

Josh returned from moving the freezer and nodded at them. "Okay, you're all set here. So good luck, break a leg, and I'll just be on my way."

"So you can rat us out to Marcel?" Finn asked, raising an eyebrow. "Somehow, I don't think that's going to work for us. How about snapping his neck? We should be done before he wakes."

"And if we're not?" Elijah asked.

"Let's kill him," Kol requested.

"We're not doing that," Hayley claimed, putting her foot down. "He's valuable to Marcel. We can use that. I'll stay. You guys go on and get your brother."

"Let's go then, we're wasting time," Freya claimed.

* * *

Rebekah only played nice with Marcel for five minutes before pulling out a particularly dark and decorative stake on him. It was the one that hexed her for five years, the one that nearly destroyed her. If anything was going to take down Marcel, it could be that.

"So this is the real reason you found me?" He asked. "To stake me?"

"You had every chance to do the right thing," Rebekah reminded him.

"The right thing?" Marcel challenged, seemingly outraged by that suggestion. "The right thing according to who? You? Or your family?" He shook his head. "This isn't about you and me at all, is it? It's about Klaus. Elijah and the others are on their way to rescue him now, right? And your job is to what? Hm? Keep me here no matter what? Let it go, Rebekah. It's over."

"It will never be over," Rebekah said, angling the stake towards his heart. "You will never know peace, not a day in your life, so long as you hold my brother captive. We will stop at nothing-" Rebekah stopped talking, interrupted by an arrow shooting through her back. Another was quick to follow, but it was intercepted by Caroline catching it, appearing out of nowhere and snarling at the attacker.

Marcel's newest girlfriend, Sofia, was holding the crossbow, and aimed it at Caroline, who caught every arrow that flew her way. The one that hit Rebekah, while made out of wood, narrowly missed her heart and the Original remained awake.

"Oh, and what? Caroline's your backup?" Marcel growled.

"And that bitch is yours," Rebekah returned, nodding to Sofia and flashing towards Caroline, who pulled the arrow out of her back. In return, Rebekah handed Caroline the dark stake, and they turned to their respectful opponents.

Before a fight could break out though, Marcel ran. Caroline flashed after him, and Rebekah took care of Sofia.

* * *

Freya, Finn, Elijah and Kol arrived at the gates to Klaus's dungeon and found their brother lying in chains on the floor. He stirred slightly as his family appeared, and with a flick of Freya's wrist the charmed gates flew open.

"Niklaus," Elijah called, stopping at the line of salt around his younger brother.

"Nik, we're here," Kol added, kneeling down.

"This spell is strong," Freya said, holding hr hands up to feel the barrier spell around Klaus. "It's been reinforced over time. It's going to take time we don't have to take it down. We can try sheer force to overwhelm it. Finn, give me your hand. I still have Katherine's necklace. If I channel you both, I could do it faster."

"You two keep watch," Finn ordered Kol and Elijah.

They started chanting in unison, and before they could get very far, Elijah and Kol heard footsteps above them, in the courtyard of the compound. They exchanged a look before running up together and coming face to face with Marcel. Caroline ran in after him and surrounded him.

"You find someway to survive my bite and you have the audacity to come back?" Marcel growled at the brothers.

"Forget it, Marcel," Caroline demanded. "You can't fight the three of us."

"Nik just has too much family for one man to handle," Kol added.

"Our brother has suffered enough," Elijah claimed. "He leaves this awful place today."

Caroline, still behind Marcel, flashed Elijah a glimpse of the dark stake before throwing it over Marcel to him. Before Marcel could run for it, Caroline jumped on him, forcing his arms behind his back and holding him still long enough for Elijah to plunge the stake in Marcel's heart, just as Freya, Finn and Klaus resurfaced.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Just outside the back entrance of all the tunnels, where a little stream of water from the river was gushing under their feet, Rebekah and Hayley had found each other and were waiting for the rest of their family.

"Any longer and I'll have to go," Hayley claimed, agitatedly. "If there's a chance they're not coming out of that tunnel, I can't leave Hope alone."

"They'll be here," Rebekah insisted. As if on cue, Elijah and Kol came out of the pipe, supporting Klaus as he stumbled towards them, followed by Finn, Freya and Caroline. "Nik!" Rebekah yelled, running forward and embracing her brother.

"You can hug him later," Freya said. "We need to leave before any of Marcel's guys find us." They all piled into the car Hayley had pulled up, and took off without looking back.

It was almost morning by the time they arrived in Mystic Falls, outside the old Mikaelson Mansion where Hayley had been raising Hope.

"Thank you," Klaus told his siblings as they climbed out of the car. "For not abandoning me."

"Well, we did consider it," Rebekah admitted. "The vote was rather close."

Everyone started to file inside but Klaus hung back, and after a quick look to Caroline, Hayley was the one who stayed back with him. "You okay?" She asked. "I'm sorry, Klaus, I can't imagine what you've been through."

Klaus sighed. "I did have my moments of solace to sustain me. It's because of them I'm here now."

"Caroline's visits?" Hayley checked. "She loves you, you know?"

He smiled at the thought but shook his head slightly. "Yes, but not only her. Katerina came to visit me. She gave me blood and Hope's drawings. She helped me."

"She helped us too," Hayley said. "Gave Freya strength, gave Caroline leads. We're going to see her again, aren't we?"

"Sooner rather than later, I believe," Klaus said. "But not tonight."

Hayley nodded. "Does that mean you're ready to see your little girl?" She asked.

She lead him into the house and upstairs to Hope's bedroom, where they creaked open the door to watch the little girl roll over in her sleep. She took Klaus's breath away, and after a while, he decided to sit down in the armchair across the room, and just watch her for the night.

* * *

 **AN: So no activity for a year and now two updates in a couple of days? I'm a loose cannon guys, you never know what I'm going to do next. This chapter was all over the place, IK, and basically just dealt with the cannon events just to get it out of the way. I'm halfway through next chapter, but don't expect it for a little while longer as I'm getting puppies this Saturday and my exams start on Monday, so I'm a very busy bee. However, it doe take a slightly different approach to cannon on the whole Freya/Keelin front and I finally give Finn something to do. Idk tbh I kind of surprised myself with it. I guess you'll just have to trust me.**

 **BTW guys, I'm not fucking about with this story, I'm going to give you guys the fanfiction that you've waited for - that you deserve. JK, you guys don't deserve the pain I'm going to put you through. The angst, the misery, everything. TW: Main character death.**

 **Anyway, don't forget to review. You might just inspire me to update faster ;) -Izzy**


	25. Chapter 24

**4x03 – Haunter of Ruins**

Katherine was in a hotel in New York when she got the call. She had been holding her phone all day debating or not whether to call Elijah. She heard he woke up, and knew it could be awkward. She wasn't sure where they stood. But when her phone screen lit up, her heart skipped a beat thinking that he had called her, reached out to her. Her face fell when she saw a different name: Vincent Giffith.

She rolled her eyes at how silly she was being and waited a minute before picking up. He could be calling to pick a fight wither about all the tiny little ways she helped Caroline along over the years, but Vincent wasn't stupid enough for a move like that.

So she answered the phone and made an effort to sigh into the microphone so he could hear it. "What do you want, Vincent?"

"I want you to come back to New Orleans," he requested. "The whole cities in danger, and I think you might be the only one who can match what we're up against."

"The Mikaelsons?" Katherine asked with a scoff. "So they're taking out their revenge fantasies? Look, I told you, I'm done with that family. I can't keep fighting them. Your own your own with them."

"Not the Mikaelsons," Vincent said quickly, before Katherine could hang up. "You remember my wife Eva, right?"

"Vaguely," Katherine admitted, bored. "The child-snatching creep?"

"She wasn't always like that," he told her. "She was everything once: smart, beautiful, full of love and light. Something evil got inside of her and it twisted her up. And it left nothing but darkness; I think that darkness has come back again."

Katherine could hear his voice cracking, but she didn't really care. She just raised an eyebrow and asked: "And what does this have to do with me?"

"You're the second darkest thing I've ever seen in my life," Vincent told her. "The devil herself."

She rolled her eyes. "I get the point, Vincent, I'm asking what's in it for me?"

"The darkness has already taken one child," he told her, "and whoever's doing this is going to want more. I'm desperate, so whatever you want? You got it."

"Now that's what I like to hear," Katherine said. "I'll be on the next flight out."

* * *

In Mystic Falls, Klaus was spending the day with his daughter. The rest of the family had met her briefly before allowing them some time alone to bond, and Elijah and Rebekah could be found in the old parlour room.

"Since Nik has found his noble purpose," Rebekah mused, sitting down in one of the old chairs, "what about you?"

Elijah, unable to think about his long-term search for a noble purpose, simply replied with: "Niklaus is spending the day with his daughter and tomorrow we seek sanctuary elsewhere. Mystic Falls is the first place Marcel will look."

"That's not what I meant, is it?" She asked. "You're no longer tethered to him. You must have thought about it, so what will you do with your immortality now that you're not burdened with saving Nik's soul?"

"I don't know," he answered, honestly. He turned his phone over in his hands, half expecting it to light up with Katerina's name on the screen. She must of known they were awake by now? Did she still have his number? He had to get a new phone soon, as not only was his outdated, but if they were chased he couldn't be tracked. If she didn't call soon, he was going to have to, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. "What about you?" He asked, turning back to Rebekah. "Do you still desire a family of your own?"

"Well, true love continues to elude me," she reminded him with a sigh.

"I am sorry, I know the way you felt about Marcel," Elijah said, comfortingly.

"Now we have a fresh start," Rebekah said, getting up and walking towards him. "Perhaps we should take this one quiet day to decide what we want our new paths to be."

She kissed him on the cheek before she left and he sighed, looking back to his phone. After a minute's thought, he found her name in his contacts and hoped she still had the same number before pressing the call icon.

She answered quickly, after only the first ring, and greeted him simply with only his name: "Elijah."

"Katerina," he returned, his heart skipping a beat when he heard her voice. It had been too long, as was just as beautiful as ever. "You were waiting for my call?"

She paused, clearly at an impasse: admit her vulnerability or lie. "Yeah, I know you'll have to change numbers soon… Plus, I was just kind of hoping you would call."

Elijah smiled and sat down in the chair Rebekah had vacated. "Indeed? Where are you?"

"JFK," she answered. "There's no private jets available until next week, so first class will just have to do. I'm headed to New Orleans."

"Don't," he ordered instantly. "We've just escaped New Orleans, Katerina, Marcellus and Vincent could trap you and use you as bait, and we can't come back to rescue you if they do-"

Katherine interrupted him with a laugh. "Elijah, I'm the devil. If it's a trap they're going to be trapped with me. Besides, Vincent offered me anything I wanted if I helped him with some baddie that's kidnapping kids. A debt from him could be helpful in the future for us."

"Us?"

Katherine hesitated. "I guess there isn't an 'us' anymore, is there?"

"Caroline informed us of your aid in her rescue mission," he told her, "and Niklaus informed us of your company in his darkest hours. I understand what these acts have meant to you. But you were still partly the reason we suffered so much. I refuse to be caught in this war between you and Niklaus again, I don't deserve this. So if there is going to be an 'us', I need you to forgive him, and I need him to forgive you."

There was a silence on the other end of the line before Katherine agreed. "I get it," she told him. "I hope Klaus does too."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Meanwhile, Finn noticed how none of the guest bedrooms seemed to be occupied by one Keelin Malroux and went on a quick walk to find her. He was absolutely appalled to find her tied up in the stables where they used to keep horses with that painful looking muzzle to extract her venom.

"Bloody hell," he snarled at the sight. He rushed over to free her of the contraption, apologising for his family as he did so. "This animosity… I expected better from Freya at least… I can't apologise enough…"

"She's just trying to help her family, I get it," Keelin said, sarcastically. "It looks like they're really suffering. Did their mimosas go bad at lunch?"

"Lord, I hope not, they'll start World War Three," Finn claimed, scowling. "And I heard the first two were bad."

Keelin narrowed her eyes, clearly confused by his references to the tragedies. "What?" She asked.

Finn just shook his head. "Ignore me. But I know what it's like to be imprisoned by these people, and all I can see that you've done to deserve it is make a mislead deal with Hayley."

"You don't buy into this whole family loyalty thing?" Keelin asked.

"Not exactly," Finn replied. "You're cut. Why aren't you healing?"

Before Keelin could reply, Freya appeared in the doorway of the barn and glared at the scene before her. "Why is her mask off?" She demanded, storming over to fix it back in it's place. Keelin hissed and Finn turned away. "We need as much venom as we can get."

"She needs a break," Finn declared, seething angrily at the one sibling he'd never been mad at before. "This is torture, Freya."

"She'll live," Freya said. "If our brothers get bitten again they may not be so lucky."

"And you don't think it's this kind of behaviour that got us all into that situation in the first place?" Finn asked, crossing his arms. "Perhaps if we stop making enemies, people will stop trying to kill us."

She scoffed. "It's a little too late for that, Finn."

"I thought you were above this," he said. "I thought you were human."

There was a pause as Freya turned to him, her face falling but not out of guilt. Out of shock. "You know, I'm starting to see why they locked you in a box for nine centuries," she mused. "You're just as judgemental as they told me you were."

The mention of that damn box instantly made Finn feel claustrophobic. He looked around the walls of the closed stable and at the imprisonment of the poor werewolf and took a deep breath, refusing to meet his sister's eye. "I need some air," he decreed, turning to leave.

Freya sighed as he left before taking the mask back off Keelin and making a concoction for her wounds. "This isn't a punishment," she insisted as she worked. "It's a necessary evil."

"Most people who do evil convince themselves it's necessary," Keelin informed her.

"Why aren't you healing?" Freya asked.

Keelin paused before admitting: "I once dated a surgeon. While trying to impress her on a hike, I took a spill and broke my ankle – double compound fractur. The next day I was good as new, which didn't make sense to her, obviously. Being a medical anomaly can suck."

"So you had a witch slow the healing process?" Freya asked.

"No, I swiped a pass to a path lab, used my tissue sample to analyse the chemotaxis of my bodies enzymes…" She trailed off when she noticed Freya getting confused. "Even a monster is a biological organism. Given the right chemicals, it can be strengthened or weakened so I devised the right treatment to help suppress my werewolf traits. Not magic. Medicine."

* * *

When Katherine arrived in New Orleans, she found Vincent in St Anne's church, chanting in a musical rhythm as he worked on a spell. He looked up when Katherine entered and sighed with dread and thanks.

"Adam Folson isn't our only case," he told her as she walked in. "Three more accounts of missing kids. Marcel's vampires saw lights at the old Davilla Estate, which has been boarded up for years. Let's go." He walked past Katherine, who continued to walk to the alter he was working at to examine his magic.

"Wait," she requested. "What's this?" She pulled a fresh, clean notebook out of the burning ash and held it up for him to see. "This looks fine, why didn't it burn?"

Vincent's face fell in shock as he walked forward to see it. It was brown leather bound and had a symbol on the front of a snake biting its own tail.

"Katherine, do me a favour," he wished. "Keep that book far away from me. If I even try to come for it, kill me."

He lead her out of the church and she paused before slipping it into her bag and following him through the front doors. The drive to the Davilla estate was longer than Katherine remembered, but Vincent's car was top-of-the-line so she didn't mind it too much.

"I've never seen you scared before," Katherine claimed as they climbed out. "What are we up against here?"

"My past," Vincent mused. "Marcel used to run this city with a much tighter fist, and had the witches scared at every turn. I wanted to take him down to protect my wife and my unborn kid. I looked for forms of magic he couldn't defend against. Couldn't find anything. And then, one night, I walk into my house and find that notebook sitting on the table. It's an instruction manual for sacrificial magic, but it's not like anything I've seen practised anywhere. Made me feel invincible."

"You're not the first witch to make sacrifices to the ancestors-"

"This isn't the ancestors," Vincent snapped. "This is something much older, and the book never gave it a name."

"So who planted the book?" Katherine asked.

"That's the thing," Vincent said. "The book's written in my handwriting. And I don't remember writing it."

* * *

Stefan found Hayley on the front porch, watching Klaus and Hope paint together. He walked up to her and leaned against the banister, giving her a friendly smile.

"We should tell Klaus about us," Stefan suggested, reaching out to hold her hand. "Tonight. The longer we refrain from telling him, the more likely he is to get paranoid about why he wasn't informed. Besides, tomorrow we're leaving, right? Better figure out what our plan is from there."

"You just want to tell Hope," Hayley scoffed with a laugh.

Stefan shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe I just want to kiss my girlfriend without panicking about whether Hope is near."

"So I'm your girlfriend now?" Hayley asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Aren't you?"

There was a pause as Hayley shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I am. We'll talk to Klaus tonight. Let him just enjoy the day before we discuss co-parenting."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Five minutes after Freya left the barn, Finn returned and with a snap of his fingers, Keelin's restraints fell. She pulled the mask off herself and he helped her get to her feet. "You're free to go," he informed her.

"Thank you," she said, stopping to smile at him.

"As long as you're alive you will be hunted," he told her. "Don't go back to your old life. Disappear. Good luck."

Keelin nodded and jumped out of the window seconds before Freya returned, storming towards him in a fit of rage. "Where the hell is she?" Freya demanded.

"I had to," Finn insisted.

"You had to what?" Freya asked. "Sentence our family to death? Do you really hate us that much?"

"Do you even hear yourself?" Finn asked, completely outraged. "There is a little child in that house, not fifty yards away, and Marcellus is in another state. We cannot live like this; we cannot keep making the same mistakes."

"I'm going after her," Freya claimed, going to storm past him.

Finn raised his hands and sent Freya flying against the back wall. When she got to her feet she snarled at him, much like a wolf herself, and raised her hands to fight back. They engaged in a power struggle for only a moment, both using all their power to hurt the other, but Freya was stronger and sent Finn through the air, breaking a pillar as he collided with it and falling to the floor in a heap. He felt his back bruising but nothing felt broken.

"I can do much worse," Freya warned. "Stay out of my way."

"Freya, stop it," Finn pleaded. "We have enough for the cure, Marcel is ages away-"

"Marcel could be handing out vials of his venom to anyone," Freya claimed. "We can't avoid a threat that could be everywhere."

"Keelin shouldn't have to suffer for that," Finn argued, stubbornly. "And Hope shouldn't be raised in world where innocent people are held captive and tortured in our barn."

"We'll tell her the world is a bad place," Freya defended. "Sometimes we have to do bad things to survive. She'll be safer if she learns that early on."

"It's not her job to stay safe," her reminded her. "It's ours. That includes protecting her innocence and trying to raise her to be a decent person."

Freya rolled her eyes. "She's a Mikaelson, she can live without her innocence. She can't live without her family."

"Enough," Elijah said, appearing in the doorway of the stable and looking between them. "I've heard this bickering all day, and it's been interesting hearing the two of you on different sides, but this ends here. Before either of you say something you'll regret."

"I've had enough of this," Freya said. "I have a wolf to hunt."

"You will do no such thing," Elijah ordered. "You will let her go."

Freya raised an eyebrow. "Fine," she relented, too quickly for Elijah or Finn's liking.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Klaus's art room in the old mansion was still filled to the brim with his work. The home had only been partially cleared of themselves when they moved to New Orleans, with some stuff being kept in case they ever returned to New Orleans.

Caroline found herself in that room late in the afternoon as it began to turn to evening, looking up at the grand landscape that she'd originally believed he'd stolen from the Louvre, before being enlightened and impressed with his talent. She didn't admit it at the time of course, but everything about that moment was so romantic.

"My daughter is an art prodigy," Klaus claimed, appearing in the doorway. She turned to face him and he smiled at her, walking towards her and putting a hand on her back. "Soon we'll have a room like this, full of her art."

"That piece of yours," she mused, "the landscape hanging in the Hermitage? It was bought two years ago by Brandhorst for the price of twenty-seven million dollars." When she told him this, he raised an eyebrow, impressed by the price. "I know that because I visited Munich at around the same time, to find an art student, who was the ancestor of the witch who crafted the dark stake that cursed Rebekah. While I was in her apartment, I saw your name on some of her notes and found that her class were studying your piece."

"That's always nice to hear," Klaus said with a genuine smile. "I shall have to go and revisit it; it's gaining a lot of attention, isn't it? Did you go and see it, Love?"

"I went to," she admitted. "I even went around the museum for a little bit, but I stopped before I got to it, and I remembered in this room, when you first told me about it hanging in the Hermitage, you told me you'd take me to see it. I didn't want to see it without you. I told myself it wasn't that big of a deal, but… This is the room where you promised to take me to Rome, Paris, Tokyo, wherever I wanted to go."

Klaus nodded. "And if I recall correctly, this is the room you shot me down in, and told me how shallow it was that I got all these thing at the snap of my fingers, and confronted me with the truth about people, and how I treat them."

"You told me I was making assumptions," she added with a shrug. "And I was. I'm not the same small town girl I was. I can't say anymore that I've never been anywhere. I've been across the states, to Germany, to Egypt and Ghana, to Singapore – always looking for cures for your family. And I realised that I don't want to have these experiences without you. I want it to be you who shows me these things." She turned to face him fully, putting a hand on his cheek and looking adoringly into his eyes. "I love you, Klaus."

He remembered five years ago, before they parted, and she'd told him that. He couldn't quite bring himself to say it back, but he had assured her that he meant it. Now, however, things with different. He didn't need to hide his feelings anymore.

"I love you," he claimed, reaching up to touch her face, pulling her in to kiss him. "I will do so forever. And I still intend to show you everything I love. I promise."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah received a phone call once night had settled over Mystic Falls. Katerina was on the other line, sounding panicked and angry, a combination which he hadn't heard from her for years.

"Where's Hope?" She asked. "Do you see her? Is she okay?"

Elijah narrowed his eyes. He was sat in the living room watching the fire, and he wasn't with Hope but he could hear her upstairs talking to her mother and father about a nightmare she was having, about a bad man hurting kids.

"She's here," he told Katerina. "I assume she's fine. Is there a reason for her not to be?"

"You remember that darkness Vincent called me to New Orleans to help me him with?" She asked. "It's not possession but it is… controlling. This being almost compelled a warlock to do it's bidding, and apparently did the same to Vincent eight years ago. This guy started kidnapping children, like Vincent's wife did, and we saved them just in time, but they were linked to totems. Five totems, four children. The fifth was the drawing I stole from Hope's school for Klaus to see a few years ago."

Elijah jumped to his feet and ran upstairs, where Hope was out of bed and Klaus and Hayley were kneeling to face her. He checked the child's forehead with the palm of his hand and told Katerina: "She's cold, and her nose is bleeding."

"She isn't safe, Elijah," Katerina insisted. "I don't know what's happening, but Vincent does, and he can cure her. You need to come back

"Thank you for telling me," he said before hanging up.

"What is it, Elijah?" Klaus demanded, rising up to face him.

Elijah sighed. "Something's going on in New Orleans that's affecting Hope. Niklaus, Katerina and Vincent appear to be out of their league, I'm not sure what they can do without our help."

"Well we can't go back," Hayley insisted, shocked at the idea.

"We may have to," Elijah said. "I don't like it either, but Marcellus is still staked until Vincent can find a cure for him, and we can handle the city without his presence. It may be the only way to help Hope."

-0-0-0-0-0-

"I know what you're thinking," Freya said, pacing around the circle of salt that kept Keelin trapped. "I'm the wicked witch in your story. But if I can track you down, that means others can too, and they want you dead. You should be thankful I want to keep you alive."

"You want me to thank you?" Keelin demanded. "Come over here and I'll show you how thankful I am."

Freya rolled her eyes at the dramatics. "My siblings are heading back to New Orleans; we need a cure now more than ever. Unless… we can cure the disease."

"What are you talking about?" Keelin asked.

"You said so yourself," Freya reminded her. "A monster is just a biological organism. You want your freedom? Well maybe you can help set us all free. Maybe you can help me weaken someone else: my magic, your medicine."

"Are you offering me a deal?" Keelin asked, warily.

"You can have your life back," Freya promised. "But first, you're going to help me turn Marcel Gerard, Lucien Castle and Caroline Forbes all back to regular vampires, so none of them can hurt us."

* * *

 **AN: I'm not a massive Freelin shipper. More of a Frucien kind of gal. /Keelin deserved way better, just saying.**

 **Anyway, I hate this chapter. Feels very empty to me. Review anyway. - Izzy**

 **(PS. I have a new story coming out hopefully today. It's a re-write of TVD Season 6 (sort of) and I hope you guys will check it out. Ships will be Stelena, Bamon and romantic!Katholine, so if any of those float your boat take a look)**


	26. Chapter 25

**4x04 – Keepers of the House**

Katherine received the call at about one in the morning. She was still running on New York time however, so it was… well, two o'clock for her.

"Vincent, seriously?" She answered, when she picked up the phone. "What now?"

"We got a problem," he told her. "The kids never made it home last night. The ambulance we loaded them into is missing too."

She paused, biting her lip before replying. "The Mikaelsons are landing in an hour; you better make it over to the compound. I'll find the kids."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Vincent hung up the phone and looked around the compound- the old Mikaelson home. The pride and joy of their family, now in shambles hosting nothing but a family of birds. It was nearing three when Klaus ran in carrying his little girl in his arms, followed by Elijah, Hayley and Caroline.

"I'll call him-" Caroline volunteered as they entered, but Vincent held up a hand and came into the light.

"No need, I'm already here," he said. "I kept my word. Now I hope you keep yours. I'm gonna heal your kids, but then you gotta leave the city."

"We're not going to stay, are we?" Klaus asked, sarcastically as he set Hope down on one of the old couches. "Your city has lost it's charm."

"What he means is," Hayley interrupted, ready to defuse the tension, "that we're very grateful. Just help her, and we'll be on our way. We'll do so happily if you just give us what we need."

Vincent nodded and kneeled down beside Hope, beginning to chant lowly and clapping his hands together very gently to energise his magic. Hope stirred – she'd been conscious before, but not truly awake until now.

"Mom?" She asked, turning straight to Hayley, who rushed over to give her a big kiss and a hug.

"There," Vincent said, straightening up. "Your little girl's purified."

Klaus nodded to him. "Thank you."

"The only gratitude I need from you guys is seeing you leave this city," Vincent claimed, gesturing to the door.

Hope made a move to go to Klaus, but before she could get to him, a dead crow landed between them. They kept falling, dozens of them all from the ceiling beams where they'd made their nests, all now dropping dead out of the blue.

"What is this?" Elijah asked Vincent, seething.

"I don't know," Vincent admitted.

Hope looked confused and kept turning to see the whole courtyard. "Mom, can you hear that?" She asked. "Whispers. Saying a name over and over. Kre Nah Han."

"What is that?" Caroline asked, turning from Hope to Vincent.

"It's a nearly forgotten dialect," he said, turning very grim. "It's Creole. It means the Hollow. The Hollow is coming."

By the time morning had come, they'd put Hope to bed in Hayley's old room, and Klaus had cleared away all the dead birds. Finn, Freya and Stefan, who had been waiting in Mystic Falls, all agreed to get on the next flight out.

"How is she?" Klaus asked as Hayley came back downstairs to join him and Caroline.

"The fever's back but she's not in any pain," Hayley claimed. "She's asking for you."

Klaus shrugged. "Well, make an excuse. I'd rather my daughter not know that I've gone off to murder witches. Oh don't look at me like that, how am I supposed to respond? By delegating my daughter's safety to someone else?"

"Elijah said he'll see what he can do," Caroline reminded him. "And unlike your paranoid mind suspects, I highly doubt he's just left to look for Katherine. Hope is his priority right now and you know it."

"If he won't then I will," Hayley volunteered. "Someone needs to see what that bitch is up to."

"Mm, I'll come too," Caroline said with a semi-sadistic grin.

"Leaving me to do what, exactly?" Klaus asked.

"Stay here and look after your daughter," Hayley said, as if it were obvious. "Make sure that nothing and nobody sees or touches her. Live up to that knight-in-shining-armour persona that she's gifted you."

#

Vincent spent the rest of the morning talking to the covens of panicked witches in St Anne's church. "Look guys, I know what we're up against. There's a faction of witches, our witches, who are overcome with a darkness and are attempting to make human sacrifices. This darkness is old, it's powerful, it's angry-"

"It's a force my family and I are here to erase," interrupted Elijah, who leaned against the doorframe at the back of the church. "Now, if you will all excuse us, Mr Griffith and I have a lot to discuss."

After hesitation, Vincent nodded to the witches and they got to their feet to leave, scowling at Elijah as they passed.

"Now that we've gotten rid of the unnecessary hysteria-" Elijah started.

Vincent held up his hands to stop him. "Look Elijah, I got enough on my plate as it is without you bringing me anymore trouble."

"You need me," insisted Elijah. "Unfortunately, I have a long history of removing anything undesirable from New Orleans."

Vincent nodded, faking curiosity. "I figure I'm on that list, so it's probably best for me to work alone or with the people I trust."

"Oh, Katerina, you mean?" Elijah asked. "Yes, I heard you called her for help but it seems odd to me that you'll go to her, a woman who's known for her deception and betrayal of men, instead of me, who's called noble across the world. Am I to presume that you have a little _crush_?"

Vincent chuckled lowly and shook his head. "Katherine Pierce utterly disgusts me," he assured Elijah. "But I need her. You and your family are tyrants, and you may be strong, but I don't know if you're strong enough for this. Katherine is. I've felt it. I've seen her power. She might not know how to use it all, and I don't know how this whole devil thing works, but I know she has it in her."

"Sure enough to sell your soul?" Elijah asked, narrowing his eyes. "Because that is what the devil will want from you. Besides, I wasn't offering. Children's lives are at risk-"

"You care about children all of a sudden? What about Davina Claire, Elijah?"

"Davina was not a child," Elijah declared, instantly. "And it's a pity you can only see me as some merciless butcher. I'll be whatever you want me to be, Vincent Griffith, I will destroy everything good under the sun if it means saving my niece. And right now, according to you, you're facing many evils. Wouldn't it be nice to have as many of those as possible by your side?"

Vincent sighed before finally relenting. "We're gonna do this my way."

"Beautiful," Elijah declared. "Your way it is."

#

Katherine walked up the steps to a back-entrance of an old-timey café and faced the witches who organized their hideously poor market in the area. "Listen up," she ordered, turning to face them all and neatening her leather jacket. "For five years I've stayed out of your business, and you have stayed out of mine. But now your problems are becoming mine and I'm bored of it. Now, someone's snatching kiddies, and while I don't have a moral bone in my body, I do have a funny thing about people hurting children. You've all seen the graffiti, and someone's got to know who's responsible. So give me a name so I won't have to kill you all. Because I may not like hurting kids but I have no problem with turning them into orphans."

The witches watched her with clear distaste and mistrust, but she didn't care. They knew she wasn't bluffing.

"We don't owe you anything," one of the older witches said, keeping her daughter close to her side. "You're no friend to witches."

Before Katherine could traumatize that daughter, two women appeared behind the crowd that made her eyes roll back into her head.

"You don't trust her," Hayley observed, moving forward and being watched by Caroline. "I don't either. But one of those kids is my daughter. She's seven. She likes to paint, catch fireflies, make up stories. Now she's sick. I don't care about Katherine's history with witches. I'm just a mom asking you to help me."

The witch hesitated before answering: "There's a girl named Lara. I saw her draw the same symbol on her window in blood."

"Where do we find this witch?" Caroline asked, stepping forward.

"She's not a witch. She's a wolf. She ran off to the bayou."

Katherine, Hayley and Caroline exchanged a look before all heading in the same direction – a silent agreement that they were on the same side.

They managed to lure Hayley all the way to the bayou before she called Klaus to check up on Hope.

"Caroline and I found Katherine, and we're following a lead to the bayou of a stray werewolf," Hayley informed him.

"A werewolf?" Klaus asked, curiously. "Involved in witch business?"

"Crazy, I know," Hayley admitted. "I want to ask her a few questions."

"Well regardless of her excuses or your loyalties, I expect you to show her the error of her ways," Klaus said.

"I'll handle it," Hayley promised. "How are things going over there?"

"She's sleeping," Klaus told her. "Freya should be here soon to stir up one of her medicinal concoctions. And Stefan arrived. He seems very chummy with our daughter."

Hayley looked awkward but remained calm. "Well, he's been her babysitter since she was three. I've done everything to establish boundaries, Klaus, don't get jealous. You gave Stefan and I your blessing."

"I'm not jealous," Klaus said. "Just informing you. Good luck on the wolf hunt."

He hung up before Hayley could say anymore and she sighed, slipping the phone into her pocket.

"So the rumours are true," Katherine singed, appearing over Hayley's shoulder. "I heard you were Stefan's _latest_ epic love."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "There's nothing epic about it, Katherine. That's the beauty of it. Simple, new, happy, but exciting all the same. And I know about your history with him and it's not going to freak me out."

"Oh I'm not trying to freak you out," Katherine promised, cheerily. "Just reminding you that every man you meet, I've been there first. Stefan was a lot of fun but been there, done that."

"Bought the t-shirt," Caroline chimed in with a smirk.

Hayley narrowed her eyes. "I totally forgot you two dated," she admitted. "Why did you break up?"

"He got too jealous," Caroline claimed. "But I guess that was fair considering I was in love with Klaus at the time. The build up to the relationship was great though, and we were a cute couple for a bit."

Hayley nodded. "Okay, so as well as the soulmate Elena he'd probably still choose over me, I also have to compete with the two of you? Who I'm guessing are going to be hovering over us forever?"

"And Rebekah," Katherine added.

" _Rebekah_? When?"

"1920's," Katherine said. "Didn't he tell you?"

"And again in 2011," Caroline added. "They were Team Stebekah." She was greeted with looks of confusion so she explained. "In the hunt for the cure, we were all on a team. Team Klaus, Team Delena, Team Shane – Hayley, you remember Team Shane? And Team Stebekah. They wanted it for different reasons, but of course, we didn't know there was only one dose."

"Aren't you forgetting a team?" Katherine asked, coughing.

"Right," Caroline said. "The secret team who always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else and was messing with all of us. Turned out it was Team Kalijah."

"Kalijah," Katherine repeated. "That's cute."

"I bet we're going to find out Freya's slept with Stefan at some point," Hayley mused.

"Who the hell cares?" Katherine asked. "Caroline's sleeping with you baby daddy. Elijah has dated both you and I. Everybody and their parents have slept with me. If you're going to spend eternity with the same people you're going to get curious."

There was a pause as they all accepted this truth and kept moving through the bayou.

"What's Elijah _like_?" Caroline asked after a minute.

"Oh my god, I can't have this talk," Hayley claimed. "And we don't have time. There's our girl." They came to a stop at a pier and looked out to a young brunette girl who was staring at the water's surface. "She's not going to want to talk to a vampire – I'll go."

"Last time we ran into one of The Hollow's goons, they tried to kill me," Katherine reminded her. "Just warning you."

"Clara?" Hayley asked, stepping out onto the pier. "My name's Hayley, I don't know if you-"

"I know who you are." Clara interrupted, turning around to see her. "Hayley Marshall. I know why you're here. You're here because of the children. I'm sorry, I had… They're as good as dead."

#

Keelin followed the bickering siblings into Marcel Gerard's apartment, rolling her eyes as they fought. Finn may have been in her court, but he wasn't exactly trustworthy in her books, and Freya… well she was an outright bitch.

"I cannot believe you, sister," Finn was yelling as they walked into the lounge. "To go against Elijah and I-"

"You and Elijah are not the bosses of me," she informed him. "In fact, you are my younger brothers. We all do what we think is necessary to protect this family, and I shouldn't be judged for my part. I think they'll all thank me one day."

"I admit, I'm Team Finn on this one," Keelin chimed in. Both siblings shot her an annoyed look and she shrugged, walking around the lounge to look about the luxury apartment. "Why aren't you telling the others about our little project?"

Now, this was complicated. Freya had told Finn their project was to make the Original vampires immune to Marcel, Caroline and Lucien's venom by editing their genes. What Freya and Keelin knew – and what Keelin's ring that forced her to do whatever Freya asked her to forbade her from telling Finn – was that they were actually going to disable the mega-originals ability to kill by returning them to their original state.

"I don't need to pick another fight about having you in my captivity," Freya mused. "Plus, they'd never trust me to go near Marcel."

"But neither of you care about being in trouble?" Keelin asked. She didn't get a reply, so she moved on. "Where do we look?"

Freya watched her, narrowing her eyes. "Marcel stocked up on Klaus's blood, no doubt he did the same with his own venom. You know, that ring enhances your instincts. Why don't you try using them?"

"She's a werewolf, not a damn bloodhound," Finn snapped.

Freya rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll do it my way." She flicked her wrist and a hidden cupboard in the wall swung open to reveal a safe. She chanted a little to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "I can't open it," she narrated. "Which means it's exactly what we're looking for."

"Well, before you blow it open with a magic bomb," Keelin mused, teasingly, "just know that they'll know we were here."

"Do you have a better idea?" Freya demanded. "Because my family need me and I'm out of time for this."

"Go help your niece," Keelin suggested. "I have super duper wolf hearing, I will crack the safe and take everything we need from it."

"I can't leave you here," Freya said. "If you try to run-"

"I know, you'll turn me into a wolf, I got the threat the first time," she claimed. "Besides, Finn's still here."

"God forbid she trust me," Finn snarled. "I pray to see the day where this family regards each other with anything but contempt."

Freya growled and turned to face Finn. "If anything happens to her, I may not be able to dagger you but I will put you to sleep and lock you in a coffin for the rest of your days, mark my words." She stormed out and closed the door behind them. Keelin and Finn took a breath to let her go before moving on.

"What is this box people keep referring to?" Keelin asked, walking towards the safe.

Finn paused, leaning against the back of the couch and tapping his fingers. "It's a family tradition," he mused after a minute. "I used to be an Original, not a warlock. There were these daggers… still are somewhere, I suppose. If dipped in a certain type of ash, they could paralyse us. Put us to sleep. When they are removed, we woke, good as new. One night, our youngest sister's boyfriend put them through our hearts, and when Niklaus woke everyone up he left me. In a box. Forgotten about."

"Why?" Keelin asked.

He hesitated again, clearly not wanting to talk about it. "I was the last to abandon my humanity. My morals. The others started killing and apparently I judged them a little too harshly for it."

"They punished you for being good?" Keelin asked, her face falling. "How long?"

Finn clicked his tongue. "Nine centuries," he replied, looking down.

"And now you've just… forgiven them?"

"Now I've seen the good this family can produce," he claimed, meeting her eye. "No, I don't forgive them, and they're not sorry, but I'm tired of constantly losing and being in pain. They don't have that because they stick together as family. I'd like to try that. My life up to this point has been loss. Now I'm human and I don't have long left. Maybe I can salvage what's left by making peace with them and moving on."

Keelin nodded slightly, as if this was a sad truth. "I get it. I hope you find your peace. You seem like you deserve it."

"I think so as well," Finn admitted.

#

"Who might this be?" Elijah asked, picking up a skull that was on Vincent's alter.

Vincent, preparing ashes over some candles to perform a spell, replied: "A witch who lost his way. He might just help us find ours. This thing, the Hollow, it's magic has a very unique signature. I felt it on this witch the other day when Katherine and I took him out so if I can trace that energy back to its source-"

"You can find the rest of these fanatics," Elijah finished.

"That's right."

"So this thing that haunts my niece, has it spoken to you?"

Vincent hesitated. "It's like a broadcast. And I managed to shut it out but a lot of people have a harder time doing that."

"Like your wife?"

Vincent scowled. "You know there's a difference between what we project and what we hide in our hearts – what we have inside of our hearts – right? Now that thing took everything that was dark and twisted inside of me and it used it against me. It used it against my wife and it ended up taking everything I've ever loved away from me. Now, let's say that we run into that thing today, Elijah. It's going to take everything that you want to keep buried and make you do exactly what it wants you to do. And that's what makes you a liability to the very niece you're trying to protect.

Now Elijah hesitated, pondering this. "If… darkness if what it will use to get us to do it's bidding, why Katerina? She's worse than you seem to think. I do try to be a better person, but Katherine Pierce is relentless."

"Exactly," Vincent claimed. "She loves it. So how's it going to use it against her, hm? You, you're ashamed of your darkest parts, you can easily be ruined by them. Katherine will consider it praise."

Vincent started his spell, chanting over the ashes.

#

"We're not here to hurt you," Hayley promised, holding her hands up in a surrender.

Clara looked like this was humorous to her, but the tear stains on her cheeks and the look of hopelessness in her eyes were no laughing matter. "You can't hurt me anymore than I've hurt myself," she admitted. "I didn't know this was going to happen. I didn't know they were bringing children into it."

"It's okay," Hayley said, reassuringly. "Just tell us who they are."

"Followers of the Hollow," Clara said. "Those who serve as the blue light. I thought we were doing something good. Trying to take back our city."

"From who?" Hayley asked.

Clara looked past her to Katherine and pointed to the doppelganger with a knife. "From her. These streets have been run by the devil. She controls even the vampires, who have been terrorising this city like it's there's for five years."

"I've been keeping this city peaceful-" Katherine started.

"It's not yours to keep!" Clara exclaimed. "New Orleans belongs to all of us. And the Hollow offered us the power we needed so long as we pledged our allegiance."

"Clara, you're a crescent," Hayley reminded her. "You have the pack; you don't need this cult."

"You were gone," Clara said, disappointed. "You chose the Original family over your own kind. Don't you see? Our pack means nothing. You mean nothing."

"You're right, I was gone," Hayley admitted. "But only because I have a daughter now, and she's one of the kids in trouble. So please, help us. Help them."

Clara laughed. "You can't help them! The Hollow wants power, the kind that only comes from sacrifice. Those kids will die so it can get stronger. And it will feed and it will rise and we will all bow before it. A greater beast than all of you. My only mercy is that I won't be here to see it."

Before any of them could help her, she took her knife and plunged it into her own neck. Hayley held her as she choked on her own blood and died on the dock.

Only about a minute later, Hayley and Caroline's phone screens lit up. They were in a group chat with the Mikaelson family and Stefan, to which Elijah had just sent the message:

 _Bayou, immediately. Vincent's tracking Kinney to the children. All on best behaviour, please. – E_

He followed that text with coordinates of where exactly to meet, and in only ten minutes, they were waiting in the spot. Klaus, Elijah and Vincent had already arrived and were chatting about the task at hand.

"Freya's with Hope," Klaus was telling them. "She's fighting it, whatever 'it' is."

"The kids are attached to that spell, if we save the kids we save your little girl," Vincent promised. "And the sooner you can all be on your way."

"Clearly we're skipping all the hugs and hellos," Hayley mused as the women met the men. "Vincent?"

"Trail leads off this way, so I guess we follow the breadcrumbs," he mused, heading west.

"We should separate and surround them," Klaus suggested. "Caroline and Katerina will go North, Hayley and Elijah go from the East, Vincent and I will head West. Divide and conquer."

"Let's go."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Caroline briefly explained Klaus's logic on the way. "You're the most powerful being we can't trust. So you're with me - the most powerful being we can. Same with Vincent, which is why he goes with the second strongest: Klaus. That leaves Elijah and Hayley."

They reached the sight of the dark magic in only half an hour and what they saw was shocking. Four bodies – small, childlike bodies – were wrapped and tied, left side-by-side on a stone platter. Five men stood around it, facing a guest as fires burned in the torches and night descended on the group. One man, who's face was painted with chalk, looked up as Detective Kinney walked towards them.

"Now that you've returned, brother, you may join us as we claim our power," the man said. "Our rightful place. And lay waste to all who would deny our master. Are you prepared to prove your loyalty to the Hollow?"

"I know what I have to do," Kinney said, bravely. "I'm not afraid."

"We should begin," the man said, pulling out a knife.

From about twenty feet away, Caroline could hear Klaus whisper to Vincent: "Enough with this circus of sadists." A wooden stake was thrown through the air, stabbing the spoken man in the heart. He fell to the ground with a cry, and the remaining men pulled out long knives to fend off the attackers.

Hayley and Vincent made a run for the kids and the others took care of the Hollow's remaining soldiers. Elijah ripped out the heart of one, Caroline drained the blood from another, Klaus tore off the head of the third, and Katherine raised her hand to touch the last one's forehead. Her eyes went black and the man dropped dead at her feet.

Kinney, while the others were distracted, chanted into a wooden pendant. Vincent pleaded with him to stop: "Will! Come on, it's over!"

"No, Vincent. It's only just beginning."

He held the pendant out to the group, and everyone fell back. Except Katherine, of course. A gust of wind blew her hair off her shoulders, but she still stood there, watching everyone around her fall. She walked towards Kinney, who's face fell in confusion. She raised both her hands to his face and held it, her eyes turning black once more before letting her drop dead to the ground. Her eyes turned back to their sparkling brown.

Klaus moved forward to collect the body, but before he could even touch it, the totems around the field sparked up and a ring of fire set ablaze around him and Katherine that Elijah could not cross. They blinked and in the second it looked like they were in another dimension.

It was blue and seemed to be snowing around them. Klaus and Katherine were kneeling side-by-side and shivering with cold. They looked up to see the totem that sucked them into that realm and the bright blue light that was cast behind it.

"Where are we?" Katherine whispered.

"Don't look into the blue light," Klaus breathed in return, slowly looking down.

"What is it?" Katherine asked, staring at it with wonder, like it was the most beautiful thing.

"No," Klaus told her. "Shut your eyes." Katherine didn't respond, and Klaus collected the energy to shout: " _Look away_!"

"We got it wrong," Vincent was saying. "Maybe they wanted us here. They wanted to channel your power and anchor the Hollow to the living world." He, Elijah, Hayley and Caroline determined that the kids were alive and okay, but linked to the ritual that was happening before them. "We can't wake them up unless we stop the spell."

"How do we do that?" Elijah asked.

"I don't know," Vincent admitted. "It's a sacrificial ritual. I can't break it unless I kill one of the kids."

"No way," Hayley and Caroline said at the same time. "There's something else we can do, because that's not happening," Hayley continued.

"Um…" Vincent said, thinking fast. "So these kids are powering that ritual but there might be a loophole if I link it to you." He nodded to Elijah.

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting we take my life?"

"I'm suggesting that we stake you, with wood, you die (temporarily) and that might be enough to break the spell," he said, on the verge of panicking.

"Do it," Elijah allowed. He took Vincent's hand, who took the hand of one of the kids, and Vincent began chanting. Caroline picked up one of the stakes that were dangling from the trees and on Vincent's mark, she stabbed Elijah in the heart with it.

He died in Caroline's arms, the children started to wake up, and Katherine and Klaus returned to the realm of the living.

"It worked," Vincent determined with a sigh.

#

Hope woke up well and happy, the kids were all returned to their parents, and everyone was preparing to leave the city. Freya found Keelin and Finn talking in the bell tower and turned to her younger brother. "Can you give us a minute?" She requested.

Finn looked surprised by the question but agreed and stepped outside.

"Thank you for coming back," Freya said to Keelin.

"It's not like I had much of a choice," Keelin said, holding up her hand to show Freya the ring around her finger.

"You have to understand-"

"Look," Keelin interrupted. "Maybe you and yours do it differently, but where I'm from: you make a deal you keep it. And since I'm on the hit list of the guy who wants you all dead, I guess I'm Team Mikaelson whether I like it or not."

Freya paused before holding her hand out. Keelin slowly placed her own in it and Freya pulled it forward to whisper a spell into the ring. "It's done," she said, letting it go. "Keep the benefits, minus the leash."

"Is this an apology, or a thank you?" Keelin asked.

"I don't know," Freya admitted. "I'm not very good at either. But… you deserve better. And unlike Caroline, Lucien and Marcel, you're not stronger than I am. If I need to, I can beat you."

"So we're still weakening them?" Keelin asked. "You didn't do this to, like, be a better person?"

"It's not about being a good person," Freya said. "I won't be hurting them like I hurt you. It's about protecting my family. I just forgot that I'm not protecting them from you. Everything that's happened made me scared of my own shadow, but I don't need to force you into submission. The real threat is those three."

"Well, let's get started," Keelin suggested. "You know we're going to need all three present to do this?"

Freya nodded. "It's time to get Lucien Castle back in town."

#

Caroline insisted Katherine come back to the compound so they can keep an eye on her, just for a little while. They still didn't know the affects of hers and Klaus's trip into a different realm and didn't want any more surprises. Nobody complained about her joining them for a drink, and Elijah passed her a bottle of bourbon.

"I found an old friend," he mused, drinking from it. "Or enemy, I can never really tell. Is your hair shorter?"

Katherine rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly, taking the bottle from him and having a drink.

"Once Hope's awake, we'll go," Klaus declared. "I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to."

Elijah nodded and got up to join Hayley and Caroline, who were planning the route North. Klaus and Katherine exchanged a look, thinking about their shared experience in the circle, and simultaneously, their eyes glowed blue.

* * *

 **AN: In about two chapters I'm going to drift almost entirely from the Originals and just go my own way.**

 **Reviiiiieeeeeewwwww! - Izzy**


	27. Chapter 26

**4x05 – I hear you knocking**

 _Katerina had never been more scared in her life. And of course, it was of a man. She had many complicated men in her life – suiters who bargained for her hand in marriage, her brothers and father who insisted against the partnerships._

 _They held a very unique belief that childhood was sacred, and wanted Katerina to experience it for as long as she could. They wanted her to mature into her own person before becoming property of another man. She still had a lot to learn._

 _But Katerina had always been her own person and now she wanted to get married. She was almost fifteen and everyone she knew was married and having children. She wanted a child more than she wanted anything else._

 _And now she had one._

 _She hadn't had sex purely for the sake of having a child. To be honest, at the time she didn't really know what it was. It was the duty of the husband to show his wife on their wedding night, but since she was unmarried, she had never learned. So when the handsome traveller had come to town to do business with her father, she didn't see the harm in letting him push up her dress and lie her down on grass of a secret field._

 _Well, that's not entirely true. She did suspect that sex was what they were doing, but she didn't stop it. Because it felt too damn good._

 _Markus._

 _Only… Markus had left just after without marrying her. And she was left with no monthly courses and a growing belly under her nightgown._

 _Her mother knew so far, and her sisters. They offered to help hide it, but it was impossible. And her mother was too ashamed to help her. They deemed it Katerina's responsibility to tell her father and so, that night, she did._

 _Hence the fear._

 _He was at the fireplace in the parlour room, polishing his sword in preparation for his next hunt._

 _"Papa," she said, gliding in and waiting for permission to sit. "I have news."_

 _Her father smiled very pleasantly at her, his eyes gleaming. She was the apple of his eye. "Yes, my child?"_

 _She gulped as her eyes heated up. She tried to control the lump in her throat before she spoke, but it was too much for her. "Papa, I'm sorry. I… I didn't know what he was doing, and I tried to stop him, truly. But I'm just a girl and-"_

 _"Katerina," her father said, his face growing dark. "What is your news?"_

 _"When Markus came to visit you-"_

 _"What is your news, girl?!" He demanded, his voice rising to a shout._

 _Katerina's hand fell to cover her stomach, to protect her child's ears from the scolding. The gesture was all the confirmation her father needed. He aimed his sword at her and she gasped, backing a step away. She knew her father would never kill her. Not her Papa. But it was her child she needed to protect._

 _"Papa, no please," she begged. "I've never felt more love and peace than I have with this child. How could a deed be bad if it's bought me something this good?"_

 _"You stupid girl!" He exclaimed, his mood quickly changing. He lowered his sword and raised his hand, striking her in the face. She fell back and tried to shield herself, but it was no good. She was just a girl, after all. "You have disgraced this family! Only madness can distort this into good. I should have you bound in a dark room for this!"_

 _He yelled at her for hours and hit her a few more times. The next morning her older brother beat her as well. But that didn't hurt nearly as much as when they took that love and peace away from her._

#

Katherine woke up and gasped, sitting upright and looking around the room. This was Klaus Mikaelson's house. A nightmare in himself. But oddly, after that despicable memory, she couldn't help but feel slightly saved.

But she needed some water.

She left the bedroom, in a bit of a daze from the nightmare and passed a mirror on the way out. Part of her expected to see a pale nightgown and braided hair. Instead she found a borrowed tank top and shorts from Caroline and a silky kimono that she'd left at the Compound five years before.

She felt the same way she did in the Renaissance and craved going home. Not necessarily to Bulgaria, but just… back in time. In in those years, when she'd been so afraid of men she'd still had sex again. With Elijah, in 1492. Only two years after she lost her child. You would have thought she learned. But in a world where she'd been so afraid of men, Elijah was the only place she'd ever felt safe.

She found her way to his bedroom, where the door was open and he was leaning over his balcony to watch the sleeping city, like the guardian of his family, protecting it from the world.

"Good morning," he greeted, turning to face her, sensing her behind him.

"Is it morning already?" She asked, crossing her arms to shield herself from the cold open window. He closed it when he noticed.

"Is everything alright?" He asked.

She shrugged, resisting the urge to shake her head. "Bad dream," she dismissed. "It's nothing."

There was a pause as she looked around his old bedroom, thinking about the times they coupled in that bed, danced on that balcony, laughed together. Everything. She reminded herself that, after all this, after five hundred years, she was still safe with him.

"Actually, it isn't," she corrected. "Something's different. Ever since the bayou, I feel different. I broke a mirror." Elijah raised an eyebrow and Katherine explained. "It cracked in the exact shape of the sigil we've seen all over town. We killed witches who followed it, trying to anchor it to our world. Now I think it's anchored to me."

Elijah's eyebrows knitted themselves together. "Talk to Freya," he recommended. "She can help you."

"She's still mad at me for five-year-old drama," she said, shaking her head. "I'll call Vincent. He has a past with this, and we have a truce. He can help me."

"I'll go too," Elijah offered.

"Vincent hates you," Katherine reminded him.

"Well, he'll have to get over that," Elijah stated. "I won't sit around and hope you're not possessed. I'm not letting you out of my sight until you're cured."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Two hours later, they were pacing around the graveyard, waiting for Vincent's arrival. He was nowhere to be found and not answering his phone, despite Katherine's fifth voicemail message: "Vincent, we were supposed to meet an hour ago. I've killed for less. Call me back as soon as you get this." She hung up and growled, slipping her phone into Elijah's coat pocket. The pockets of skinny jeans were annoyingly small, it was too hot to wear a jacket and she'd left her bag at home.

"This is ridiculous, I'm calling Freya," Elijah declared, pulling up his sister's name on his phone. He walked away and Katherine rolled her eyes.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow move from behind graves and strutted over to find out exactly who it was. "Wrong day to be playing games with me," she told them. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

She expected a witch, or Vincent himself to step out and greet her, but instead it was Klaus who walked out from behind a grave to see her.

"Good morning, Katerina," he greeted, his hands behind his back. "Don't look so frightened."

"I'm not scared of you," Katherine claimed.

"Oh but you are," Klaus insisted. "After all this time, you remain _terrified_." On the cue of the word, his eyes glowed blue and Katherine stepped back.

"It's got you too?" She guessed.

Klaus smirked. "Oh, you're almost on the mark. _The spirit I have seen may be the devil, and the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape_. That's Shakespeare. I find it ironic, considering our shared title."

Katherine narrowed her eyes when she realised the truth. "You're not Klaus," she stated. His eyes glowed blue when she spoke. "What is this? Are you trying to scare me? If this is all in my head, can't I just wish your ass away?"

"Wishes will not bring you solace," The Hollow said. "Nor will they undo the truth behind your fear. Klaus wants you dead, always has, always will. Can you wish that away? I don't think so. He killed you on that bridge. What's to say he won't try again? You need to eliminate the threat."

"And what do you get out of me killing Klaus?" Katherine asked.

"I need a sacrifice," The Hollow mused, stepping closer and closer to her. "Either Klaus, or you, two powerful souls fighting to the death. Now doesn't that sound wonderful?"

Katherine yelled and grabbed the spirit by the throat. Her eyes went black and she looked into it's mind to feed off it's soul. But when she did she saw images from a life she knew. Elijah's. She dropped her victim and Elijah coughed for a minute, stumbling against one of the graves and seeming very confused.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Are you okay?"

"What was that?" Elijah asked.

She paused, trying to figure out how to explain it. "It's me gaining energy for psychic magic from your soul," she said. "It's easier to do it straight from the damned in Hell, but it's a useful weapon against those on Earth. I know. Being the devil is weird."

Elijah paused before nodding. "Alright. Let's go find Freya."

#

"Lucien," Freya said into the phone, after hearing that annoying voicemail beep. She didn't know where in the world he was, but she was hoping he was asleep and not ignoring her. "I know this is very… out of the blue. I just woke up from a five-year coma and suddenly my family's in danger again. I was hoping you could come back to town and help out. You kind of owe us for the whole Cade thing. And I, um, I want to see you again. I know that sounds weird since we barely knew each other but… anyway, bye."

She hung up the phone and rolled her eyes at the innocent crush act before turning to Keelin. "He'll be here soon," she informed the wolf.

"Good," Keelin said. "I have a life to get back to."

Freya smirked and nodded. "Okay, but before that: we need to find where Vincent's keeping Marcel and wake him up. Then we need to subdue him and Caroline."

"How do we do that?" Keelin asked.

"I've already done a locator's spell on Marcel," Freya said. "He's in Lafayette, where Elijah, Katerina and Vincent also are. They all should be distracted by their three-way love-hate relationship, so I'll cloak you and Marcel's body as you sneak in and get him. Take him back here, don't remove the stake in his heart until I return, but chain him up. I'm going to join Klaus and Caroline and wait for the perfect moment to snap her neck and bring her back here. Then, when Lucien comes to town, I'll meet him for a coffee and a catch up, take him back to my place, and chain him up with the others."

"How do we subdue them?" Keelin asked. "Aren't they the most powerful beings in the world?"

"Indeed," Freya said. "I've got the Egyptian chains Lucien used to hold Klaus five years ago, as well as buckets of vervain, some of which will be put in the air vent so they breathe it in. From there it's just a really difficult, complicated spell to channel their power and put it into an object that it can't escape from. Bibidy bobody boo, we have three normal vampires again."

"Okay," Keelin agreed. "Let's get to work."

#

Klaus walked down the steps into the courtyard of the compound, calling his daughter's name in a search. He stopped next to an old mirror to watch as his eyes glowed blue. He heard his father's voice in his head, yelling in his ear: "Today you will die at the hands of Katerina, unless you kill your enemy first!"

His head flashed around to find his father, but only saw little Hope coming towards him.

"Dad?" She said. "We're ready to go. Aren't you coming?"

"Not yet sweetie," he decided. "I'll follow." He went upstairs to find Hayley and Caroline, chatting idly as they prepared to leave New Orleans. "Take Hope to the bayou without me," he ordered them, instantly. "I'll follow behind."

"Why?" Caroline asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I have to find Elijah and Katherine," Klaus said. "My daughter almost died. I have to make sure the threat is truly over. Something's wrong. I don't think we're done here, yet."

"I'm coming with you," Caroline declared, setting her bag down. Klaus wanted to argue, sure that this was a bad idea before realising that she wasn't asking for permission, and she always got what she wanted.

They went straight to the clock tower where Freya was waiting for them, her alter ready and set up, and her knife in hand to slit Klaus's palm over a clay bowl.

"Remind me again what happened in the bayou?" Freya asked.

"I fought evil and saved children," Klaus claimed. "I should be given a medal, not a depraved ghost ready to possess me."

"Well, I can fix this fine," Freya told him, gathering up a few different potions. "But have you considered not being the only one? Wasn't Katherine exposed too? And if you're father's been appearing to you, goading you to kill your enemy, maybe Katherine's had similar experiences."

"And she may actually have the means to kill you," Caroline mused.

"I need to purify you both," Freya said.

"Not yet," Klaus requested. "If The Hollow can see into me then I can see into it. Find out what it is, what it wants. This thing came after Hope."

Freya paused, clearly not a fan of this plan. However, she finally relented with a shrug. "You have one hour. Find Katherine, do what you need to do, but bring her back here with you. Get Elijah to help if she's being difficult."

Klaus headed out and Caroline went to follow but Freya held her back.

"I could actually use your help, if you don't mind," she requested. "A lot of stuff to prepare, I could use someone to channel."

Caroline hesitated before nodding. She kissed Klaus goodbye and wished him luck before returning to Freya's alter and holding her hand.

#

Since they were staying in New Orleans for one more day, Hayley decided to take Stefan and Hope and show them one of her favourite places in the world. Just a little way from the bayou lived Mary, Hope's ex step-great-grandmother, and the walk there was lovely. Fields filled with flowers and bright with every colour imaginable.

"I miss it out here," she admitted, reaching behind her to take Stefan's hand as he followed her. "I'm not the only one. Hope likes it out here too."

"We could be very happy out here," Stefan mused. "I could build a house by the lake."

"You wouldn't be able to drive that old red car," Hayley reminded him, "without trekking to where it's parked."

"It's not old," Stefan rejected. "It's classic. Who exactly is it we're going to see?"

Hayley rolled her eyes at his defensiveness over his car. "Mary," she repeated. "My ex-husbands grandmother. She's been a real god-send to me. She's family. Even if our connection is…"

"I'm sorry," Stefan said.

"Don't be," she pleaded. "Jackson was one of the most amazing things that ever happened to me. I didn't see it for what it was at the time and I regret that. But I've gotten past the point of mourning and onto the point of gratefulness that I met him in the first place."

"It's one of the worst parts of being immortal," Stefan told her. "Pain is completely unbearable. But like love, it reminds us that we're still alive. In one way or another."

"But regrets can last forever," she claimed. "Like, for example, I regret not devoting my entire self to Jackson. I regret having underlying feelings for Elijah throughout my marriage that hurt them both. And with a child involved, I should have put more thought into my actions."

"We can't help who we love," Stefan defended.

"Maybe we can," Hayley said. "Like now, I'm completely over Elijah. There's nothing left there. But I know how much it hurt Jackson, and how hurt I would be if I found out he was in love with someone else. Especially if that someone was a friend."

Stefan narrowed his eyes and finally picked up on her hints. "Do you have something you want to ask me?"

"Maybe," Hayley said, giving him an awkward smile. "Stefan, you're like, a hundred-and-fifty-years-old, and in your long life you've had some great loves. Some of which are in our every day lives. Rebekah is Hope's aunt and my friend. Katherine, your first love, is in love with her uncle. Caroline, who you dated only a handful of years ago is probably going to end up being Hope's step-mother. I just need to know that no feelings are going to return for them."

"They aren't," Stefan promised. "And I need you to be able to trust me on that."

Before Hayley could answer, they heard Hope greeting her 'Grandma Mary!' enthusiastically. Mary gave her a big hug and looked over to see Stefan and frowned. She sent Hope inside and beckoned the couple towards her.

"I didn't know you were bringing a vampire," Mary claimed. "They aren't welcome in my house. You're the exception."

Hayley glared at her but Stefan just squeezed her arm. "It's okay," he assured her. "I think we need some space to… think. Anyway." He kissed her forehead before setting off the way they came.

Hayley walked down to Mary's front door. "Seriously?"

"You know how I feel," Mary insisted. "Our kind end up dead when they're around. Yesterday we lost Lara. I wake up to hear there's been some kind of cult massacre in the woods. Let me guess. The Mikaelsons are involved? And who's he? Their cousin?"

" _Stefan_ is not involved," Hayley claimed. "And that's why I'm here. I want to talk about what caused that massacre last night."

#

Freya knocked Caroline out with a rather difficult spell and lay her down in a large pentagram she painted in the floor below her regular alter. Keelin walked in, struggling to carry Marcel's weight as she dragged him into the room.

"Where'd you want him?" She asked.

"Over here," Freya said, directing her to the four o'clock of Caroline's noon. "We just need Lucien. Damn it, we don't have much time before Klaus goes looking for her. Of course, I'd do the locator's for him but I don't really want to face that anger and paranoia. Should I call Lucien again or would that seem needy? Maybe I was overestimating his feelings for me."

"You sound like you like him," Keelin perceived.

"I prefer being the narcissistic asshole in the relationship," Freya denied. "Klaus is going to be here soon with Katherine. They're in trouble and need help. I didn't consider them coming here."

"Go and meet them," Keelin said. "Do the spell for them someplace else. I'll hold down the fort here."

Freya nodded and grabbed her bag before running out of the room.

She searched the city for Klaus for only twenty minutes before finding in at St Anne's church, washing blood from his hands in holy water. He panicked when she got closer to him, begging her to stay back, stay away from him. He was afraid of hurting her.

"I underestimated our foe," he claimed, shaking as he pointed a bloody finger at her. "The Hollow is powerful. It made me see things. And do things." He looked at the holy water and saw something he didn't like before knocking the basin over, breaking it and splashing water everywhere.

"It won't be here much longer," Freya promised. "Katherine and Elijah are on their way now, I'll-"

"Katherine," Klaus spat. "She'll kill me."

"I'd kill her first," Freya promised.

"You can't," Klaus told her. "She's the devil."

Freya sighed before holding up the purifying potion and taking Klaus's hand. "You need to let me purify you," she told him. "The enemy right now is the Hollow. Then Katherine, okay?" She chanted the spell and Klaus let her. It didn't work. "It's buried too deep," she told him. "It wants you and Katherine dead."

"And since there's no way to kill the devil, perhaps I should be running from her?" Klaus suggested. "That would be an oddly satisfying ending."

"Katherine ran from you for five centuries because she was so scared," Freya reminded him. "Don't let her intimidate you now. Bluff if you have to but we can scare her. Besides, what can she actually do?" There was a pause as she thought about this. Katherine could feed on souls…

"I have an idea," she announced.

Just as she said that, Katherine and Elijah walked through the back door of the church. Katherine was watching Klaus like a predator, but Freya could recognise the slightest hint of fear in her eyes.

"I know how you can both walk away from this," Freya announced. "Listen to me. Katherine, you can feed off souls, right? Well feed off this one. The spirit possessing you is just the tiniest sliver of the soul of an angry ghost. Control it. Make it your bitch."

Katherine blinked. "How do I do that? It's inside of me. I barely know how to externally feed on souls."

"Remember how Travellers need a coven to practise magic?" Freya reminded her. "But I taught you how to channel the tiniest sliver of power inside of you. It's the same as that. I'll help you. It will be like old times."

Katherine glared at her, scowling. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"I guess you don't," Freya answered. "But please try."

There was a pause before Katherine nodded. The moved towards each other and held hands. Five years ago they did this all the time. Every day. They channelled each other, worked together, and when Katherine died, it felt as though Freya had lost a big part of her magic.

"Remember the chant?" Freya asked. "Klaus, you have to do this too. I'll make sure she doesn't hurt you, I promise."

He slowly nodded before taking Freya's hand and she started chanting.

The room turned blue around them, much like the glow of their eyes. Black smoke started appearing around them and Katherine started shaking.

"Freya," Elijah warned. He touched Katherine's shoulder and unintentionally she started to channel him. She stopped shaking for a minute before it began again. With the strength of everyone in that room and the power of the devil, it was still the hardest spell the traveller may ever have to do.

Her eyes were wide and staring at Freya, glowing blue. Freya watched them and chanted louder and louder, putting all the power she had into her words. After a minute of work, the little black pupil started to leak until even the whites of her eyes were dark. Klaus started to tremble as well and Freya was practically screaming the words until all of a sudden it stopped.

There was a second of silence before Klaus crumpled to the floor in a heap.

"Niklaus," Elijah called, rushing to his side.

"He's fine," Freya said. "Katherine didn't get his soul, she just devoured the soul corrupting him. He'll sleep it off. It's her I'm worried about."

Katherine had started shaking again. Her eyes were still black and vacant, and Elijah paled when he saw her.

"What's wrong with her?"

"It's too much power," Freya said. "The devil, plus the hollow, no one was meant to carry that much power. Especially not a traveller."

Katherine screamed and the windows of the church shattered. Elijah rushed to her side but kept staring at Freya.

"Do something!" He ordered. "Help her!"

"I can't," Freya said, sighing with relief and a slight grin plastered on her face. "She shouldn't have trusted me, Elijah. You don't separate my family for five years and then _trust_ _me_. She's dying. And quite frankly, she deserves it."

* * *

 **AN: Yeah, I didn't beta this chapter so it's drifting from it's usual 'bad' and is now 'really bad'**

 **Anyway, if you review, I'll probably update faster. That is, if anyone is still reading this. - Izzy**


	28. Chapter 27

**AN: Me? Updating? Is this real life?**

 **Anyway, I took this chapter on an unexpected turn with a cute lil guest star. I was feeling very uninspired and decided to mix things up a bit by bringing in one of my favourite TVD characters who I never write for.** **Anyway, I hope it's not too crazy for yall. - Izzy**

* * *

Klaus was beginning to go out of his mind. At least this time, it was his own and not the mind of a demon that was driving him crazy. Caroline hadn't been seen or heard from in twelve hours, and Freya said she hadn't been able to find her via cloaking spell. Finn had claimed the same. The latter was sleeping, the former was busy arguing with her werewolf hostage and would help him in the morning. Elijah and Vincent were busy trying to save Katerina from a certain death. None of them were too concerned considering that Caroline was unkillable.

So Elijah turned to Stefan and Hayley, who agreed with him.

"I'm not convinced Freya is completely loyal," Klaus raved, pacing in front of them angrily. "She's gone off the rails since our return – her hostage werewolf, for example. She's paranoid."

"Oh, she's paranoid?" Hayley asked, noting the irony.

"She's barely even tried," Klaus declared. "I've daggered siblings for much less. Now, I don't know what to do. If I can't trust Freya then I can't trust Finn and I need a witch on my side!"

There was a small pause before Stefan pointed out the obvious. "What about a witch on Caroline's side?" He asked. "Freya doesn't have enough motif but what about someone who actually cares about Caroline's wellbeing? And would do anything for her friends?"

Klaus slowly nodded, catching the drift and bringing out his phone to dial a number he hadn't used in years.

#

Bonnie Bennett awoke to a number of sensations, the best of which was the heat of Cairo hitting the skin on her back. She rolled over, letting it hit her neck and bare chest. It was light outside, but still early. The glass doors were open to the balcony overlooking Egypt and Bonnie probably should have covered herself more, but it was too hot to care. After a second's peace, she realised the reason for her abrupt wakening and checked her vibrating phone's screen to see who was calling at this ridiculous time.

Wait, who was saved in her phone as "Prick"? She thought back to the nickname, trying to put a face to it her eyebrows shot up in recollection. Why the hell was Klaus Mikaelson calling her?

Bonnie pulled on the first t-shirt she found (which didn't belong to her, but the naked man in her bed) and answered the phone.

"What do you want?" She demanded, getting to her feet and walking to the balcony so her bare legs could get some of the warmth of the sun.

"Caroline's gone missing and I need help locating her," Klaus said. "They'll be a private jet waiting for you at Cairo International Airport in an hour. Please don't leave it waiting long."

"How do you know-" Bonnie started, before stopping herself. "Don't you have witches in your family for this type of thing?"

"They can't be trusted."

Of course not.

"Well, isn't Caroline like, mega immortal? Can't she handle herself?"

"No."

Bonnie sighed, making sure that Klaus heard it before agreeing. "Okay, I'll be there. See you soon."

She hung up and looked around to find her own clothes, throwing everything into her suitcase and putting on a pair of shorts, which she tucked the t-shirt into. She brushed her teeth and washed her face before rousing the man in her bed.

"I'm going to New Orleans," she told him. "Caroline's gone missing and apparently I'm the only witch around who can do anything right."

The man rolled over and Kol Mikaelson hid a yawn behind his hand. "Going to yell at all my siblings?"

"Just the naughty ones," Bonnie said with a smirk.

"And you'll be wearing my t-shirt?" Kol asked.

Bonnie shrugged, innocently. "It's more expensive than any of mine. Now, this goes without saying, but this never happened, alright?"

"Deal."

Bonnie grabbed her passport and suitcase, heading through the suite to the door. But a different British accent stopped her before she escaped.

"Morning," Rebekah teased, sipping her coffee. The two siblings were apparently travelling together and had ran into Bonnie, much to all their dismay… at first. "Did you have a good night?"

"I wasn't here," Bonnie insisted, pointing at Rebekah, accusingly. "Get it? You owe me."

Rebekah snarled. "Fine, I won't gossip. But then we're even."

"Fine," Bonnie agreed. "Bye bye, Rebekah."

"Bye bye, Bonnie," Rebekah returned, smirking.

Outside, a cab was waiting for her, a chauffer holding a card with 'Bonnie Bennett' written across it. She scowled at the gesture – it must have been Klaus – and got in the back without argument.

It should have been a flight that was about ten hours, but was strangely reduced to eight. Bonnie did her make up on the flight and watched the second season of Breaking Bad on her phone. It was a luxurious private jet that Klaus had waiting for her, with champagne and couches and chicken for lunch.

When she landed in New Orleans, it was still seven in the morning, the time it was when she departed. Thanks, time zones. Of course, Bonnie wanted to redo her morning.

Klaus was waiting for her at the airport, of course, and loaded her bags into his car. He sped to his home, a broken-down little apartment compound in the French Quarter, where he had candles and spell books and talismans all waiting for her. He'd put his time to good use.

Bonnie couldn't help but find it cute. He was worried about Caroline and was doing everything he could to help Bonnie locate her. Maybe Caroline wasn't in the worst relationship ever. Besides, it wasn't like Bonnie could judge, considering who she spent the night with.

But Bonnie didn't need the alter waiting for her. She just pulled the map closer and took off the pendulum that hung around her neck. Klaus handed her Caroline's hairbrush, from which she plucked a long blonde strand and tied it around the gem, chanting quietly.

The point of the gem found it's place on the map of New Orleans and Klaus turned to Stefan and Hayley, their audience.

"I told you so," he said, as if winning an argument. "That's where Freya resides. She was the last to see Caroline. She's grown paranoid and Caroline is a greater entity than us. She's letting Katerina die and keeping that poor wolf hostage. She needs to be dealt with."

"We can't put her down," Hayley claimed. "We need to be able to reason with her. Call Finn, he's her favourite."

"We need to get her first," Bonnie chimed in. "Can you take Freya? Because I've heard about her, and I'm not convinced I can. She didn't even cloak Caroline because she obviously didn't expect you to bring in another witch."

Klaus hesitated. "With some help."

#

Elijah found Vincent in his apartment across the river, studying maps of New Orleans with pin-pointed murder scenes, trying to establish a timeline of The Hollow. Elijah waited on the balcony for Vincent to notice him and open the door with a harsh scowl. The poor man must be getting the worst wrinkles around his mouth with all of the scowling he did lately.

"What do you want?" Vincent demanded.

"Can't we at least pretend to be civil?" Elijah requested, politely.

"We're supposed to be civil?" Vincent asked. "I wish I could tell Marcel that very joke but he's had that stake in his heart for too long now."

Elijah rolled his eyes and decided against the bitter back-and-forth. "Katerina's dying," he told the warlock. "She has been forced to take on all the dark magic of the Hollow and according to my sister it's going to tear her apart. I think we found the one thing that may just kill the devil. Now, I know you have a soft spot for her, so please. Help us."

Vincent scowled again. "I have no such thing," he determined. "Katherine's been a real help but if her time has come then her time has come. I'm not going to stop it."

"Vincent, please," Elijah begged. "I'm finding myself to be quite desperate. More so than I think I've ever been. Please will you help her?"

"Why?!" Vincent demanded. "What is there in it for me?! One more monster roaming around New Orleans like a disease on our soil? No thank you."

"Why does anyone do anything for my family?" Elijah asked. "You think you're the first warlock to refuse to help us? You have to leave this little… I suppose you could call this an apartment, sometime. And when you do I could either snap you in half or I could take you to my Katerina to help her. I could burn this apartment complex to the ground. I could burn New Orleans to the ground. I could become a worse monster than you've ever imagined. I've done worse before. Now, I suggest you save the monster who is on your side before you create one who will show you no mercy at all."

Vincent paused before finally shaking his head with defeat. "Bring her here," he ordered. "I have my totems here. Go, before I change my mind."

Elijah returned ten minutes later at Vincent's front door this time. Katerina had lost consciousness that morning and so Elijah carried her, her head leaning against his chest. She wore the same jeans and blouse that she had on last night, but he'd taken her jewellery and stilettos away in an attempt to make her more comfortable.

Vincent laid a pillow at the arm of his couch so Elijah set her down there, perching himself on the edge by her knees and holding her hand. Vincent set up as many totems as he could on his coffee table and sat himself down there.

"This thing has been haunting the city for a very long time," Vincent mused as he started grinding herbs. "All I knew about it was that it's a spirit who practises very dark magic and is trying to get back into our world. It tried to sacrifice those kids for it. Klaus and Katherine too. Now it's got her it's either going to kill her or use her as a vessel. If she dies it absorbs all of her power. However, if its all together in one form, it may just absorb her power, become infinitely stronger and then use her body as a physical form."

"How do we stop it?" Elijah demanded.

"I can try and exorcize it," Vincent suggested. "But that's outdated. I could siphon the magic and put it in something else but that requires a sacrifice that I cannot perform. I'm going to try and use Katherine's connection to Hell to send that thing there, but there's no telling if that will work. While I get started, call Freya and beg for her help because I have a feeling she knows more than I do."

Vincent got to work, chanting and banging rocks together and using every totem he had. For hours, it was all he did.

Vincent eventually took a break to make some tea. While he retreated to the kitchen, Katerina began to wake up, her eyes flickering. Elijah kissed her hand, rousing her until she woke.

"Look at you," she mused, her voice getting croaky and weak. "Finally by my deathbed."

"I'm sorry, I came here as fast as I could," he replied with a smirk. "It does help that you're dying in New Orleans this time, it makes it so much more convenient."

"Maybe next time I can die in Paris," she joked. "In jeans that aren't last season's."

Elijah shook his head. "You're not going to die," he assured her. "I give you my word."

Katerina raised an eyebrow. "I heard Vincent talking, you know. I couldn't move or open my eyes, but I heard you. He said he can siphon the spell into another powerful creature but then he'd have to sacrifice them. I don't know if this is something you're considering-"

"If that is what it takes to save your life then that is what I will do," Elijah claimed. "But I will entertain other possibilities first. I would like us both to come out of this alive."

"I couldn't live with you dying for me," Katerina claimed. "Klaus would never let me here the end of it. Either we both live or you live without me."

"The great survivor willing to die to save me," Elijah mused.

"I'm not dying to save you, I'm dying because Freya tricked me into saving Klaus," she reminded him. "I was stupid. I trusted too easily. It's not like me. But now I have to take my medicine."

Elijah touched her cheek, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "We'll both survive this," Elijah assured her. "I am sure of it."

"And then what?" Katerina asked.

"Marry me."

She paled, clearly taken aback. She laughed for a second before spluttering and raising her eyebrows. Then she tried to form a sentence and came out with: "I… I mean… after… serious… what?!"

"Marry me," Elijah repeated. "I don't have a ring, but I'll buy you one. I'll buy you them all. Every diamond ring I can find, I will buy them all for you if that's the proposal you'll accept. I love you. I have loved every version of you and I'm sure I will love everyone you'll become. Katerina Petrova, will you spend forever with me? Will you marry me?"

There was another pause as everything in the world just seemed to stop existing except them and then eventually he got his answer.

"Yes."

Before they could rejoice for too long, there was a few harsh knocks at the door and upon Vincent's request, Elijah answered it to an unlikely duo.

"We're taking Freya down," Klaus claimed. "Now."

"We have a plan but we need your help, she's powerful and I'm not convinced we could do it just the two of us," Bonnie Bennett added.

Elijah took a few seconds to process this before turning to his brother. "Why?"

"She's taken Caroline," Klaus explained. "And you must be eager to avenge Katerina. You've consented to daggering Kol for much less."

Elijah nodded slowly. "Katerina…" He mused. "Freya has left her to die. I will not leave her side. Vincent's been working for hours, Katerina hasn't shown any improvement. I could be here for days."

Bonnie scoffed and stepped into the apartment like she had been invited. "Days? Give me ten minutes."

And sure enough, to Vincent's astonishment, in ten minutes, Katerina was back on her feet. Apparently, Bonnie didn't think an exorcism was old fashioned, and she expelled the spirit from Katerina.

"It's more of a band aid, really," she explained. "I've sent the spirit up into the air, it could affect anyone next. But Katherine's – unfortunately – fine. So, Elijah, if you want to come with us…"

#

Freya Mikaelson. A witch. A victim. A sister. She'd found her family at long last and then had them all in captivity. She remembered how helpless she'd felt when Katherine Pierce betrayed them. When she sentenced them to five years of torment. She made a vow on that day, out of love and fear, that nothing like that would ever happen to her family again. And so, she couldn't let an entity more powerful than them survive. And she didn't want to kill them.

She didn't feel sorry for what she did to Katherine. You _do not_ hurt Freya's family and then _trust_ her. But she was sorry for what she was doing to Caroline. But the risk was too high. What if Caroline turned off her emotions one day? She was too unpredictable.

When Lucien Castle returned to town, she had him join Caroline and Marcel in her pentagram as she began the spell. It took hours of agonising magic. Spells she'd never thought to touch before. Totems she didn't dare use. Sacrifices that almost killed her. She worked through the night for hours and hours. Keelin kept watch outside, alerting Freya to any of her family coming forth but no one did. All night.

Until finally, it became morning. Freya sat back and sighed, finishing her chant and holding up a little bowl of her blood. It was her blood that created this mess in the first place and it was her blood that finished it. Her magic called to her blood until it was all channelled into one little bowl. Three regular vampires lay sleeping in front of her, all their old power drained into one little bowl of blood.

"Hey, witch bitch," Keelin mused, poking her head around the door. "You've got company."

"It's too late," Freya claimed. Keelin ran into the room, backing into the corner as the door was broken down. Before Freya could explain herself, she was knocked with shear forced into the wall. She felt her muscles bruising and something cracked.

She stretched her hand forward to the bowl of blood, spilling it and trying to evaporate it, so it couldn't be used to turn Caroline back. Before it was all turned to gas, however, magic was used to break the bones in Freya's arms. Elijah waked towards her, clamping something on her wrists.

"What did you do?" Klaus demanded, kneeling by Caroline's side. "Tell me how to fix her, Freya, _now_!"

"She's fine," Freya claimed. "She's a vampire again. Nothing more. Not a threat. All of them." She raised her hands again to evaporate the blood, but found her magic stunted. Metal was clamped around her wrists, connected by a chain. A Dark Object that prevented magic. "Take this off me!"

"I don't think so," a woman said, moving forward and looking down at her. "Freya Mikaelson, right? Caroline called me a few years ago to cure you, and I did. And here I am now, saving her from you. You can suffer without your magic."

"Who-"

"I'm Bonnie Bennett," she said with a proud smirk. "It was my family that taught yours how to do magic." She looked up to Keelin, who was cowering in the other corner of the room. "Who are you?"

Elijah chimed in here: "Keelin Malroux, the werewolf whose blood saved us. Freya's been holding her hostage since."

"I gave her free will back-" Freya started.

"I'd be very quiet if I were you," Bonnie suggested. "I gave your life back, I can take it away just as easily." She walked over to Keelin and helped her up.

"Freya offered me protection," Keelin explained, hastily. "I have vampires hunting me down-"

"We can protect her," Elijah promised, nodding to Bonnie.

Freya was dragged back to the compound by Bonnie's magical leash. Klaus carried Caroline like she was some wounded deer. Elijah went to find his villainous Katherine. Keelin joined them to the compound. Everyone ignored Freya's protests and requests to have Lucien and Marcel locked up before they retaliated.

Everyone was distracted by the two guests who lounged around in the courtyard.

"Finally!" Klaus exclaimed. "It's about damn time you two made an appearance."

Rebekah sipped her martini as she observed the situation. "Where's Elijah? Why is Caroline unconscious? And why is our dear sister in chains?"

"It's a long story and I need a drink," Klaus claimed before excusing himself to his room to lay Caroline down and nurse her back to health.

"Well, that's alright," Kol mused, looking around the room before his eyes landed on Bonnie. "I, at least, am going to be here for a while."

Bonnie looked like she wanted to throw up.

#

Katerina drove them to the big old sign that said "Welcome to New Orleans" before pulling over on the side of the road and running her hand through her hair. "I'll stop in Mystic Falls for a little bit," she mused. "Pay a visit to my doppelganger."

"I'm coming with you," Elijah said, adamantly.

"No you're not," Katerina contradicted with a low chuckle. "Eight years ago I asked you to leave you brother, who was battling a few pesky witches and a major life decision for me, and you didn't. The Hollow's still out there, threatening your niece. You won't leave New Orleans for long until she's safe."

"We weren't engaged back then," he reminded her.

"No, maybe not," Katerina relented, smirking. "Listen, Elijah. I can't believe I'm saying this but as much as I would love a road trip with you, your family needs you. I'm going to find out what this damn thing is, and then I'll find you. But Freya's on a witchy acid trip and I'm her next target. She wants me dead, we know that. And if I'm left alone with you… It'll only make her paranoid. She'll come after me. I need you to stay and watch her, so I don't have to run."

"She'll never harm you," Elijah promised. "Not for as long as I live."

Katerina leaned over and kissed his jaw, feeling his stubble against her lips. "I love you, Elijah Mikaelson. I promise, I'll see you soon."

He nodded, leaning into her until his lips were pressed against hers. Then they moved up to her forehead. "I love you too," he swore, before getting out of the car and letting her go.

* * *

 **AN: Am I foreshadowing? We'll see.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys like a bit of Kennett. If not, I'm sorry.**

 **Are you guys reading my new Klaroline/Kalijah/Kennett story set between Season 4 and Season 5 of The Originals? If not, what are you doing with your time that's more important than my ego? But seriously, please check it out if you have a free minute. Lots of love, Izzy xx**

 **(and review. please. I promise i'll update faster)**


	29. Authors Note

**This story blew up. This got more follows and favourites and reviews than I expected it to, and I love each and every one of you for it.**

 **This story started off as a little daydream about how Nina Dobrev and Katherine Pierce could have thrived on The Originals, how the television series really isn't that bad, how Klaroline could have happened.**

 **Now, I don't even remember how that day dream started, or how I wanted it to end. I've tried to take this story in so many directions that you haven't liked, and that I've gone back on. I've doubted myself, deleted chapters, changed things, rewritten things, all to please you, and now, I don't even like the story I'm writing. I'm becoming too critical of every chapter and it's not making me happy. The pressure to update with something everyone will like is too much because you all have such strong opinions.**

 **I like feedback, I do. And I get some of the most positive and lovely reviews, but all I remember are the bad ones. It's affecting my writing with other stories.**

 **I started this story two years ago, and since then I have designed a million endings. Unfortunately, not one of them will happen. I'm going to give this story up. It's not the same as the one I started and the one everyone liked - that one will live on in the first few chapters for any of you to revisit if you like. Hell, I might even re-write it from the start if I like. But this one will die here. I don't ship the same things I did two years ago. I don't like the same characters.**

 **I love Hayley Marshall. I love Freya, even when I write her as an antagonist. I love Finn. Every character I include in my stories I have a heart full of love for. And it's so disheartening when even the nice reviews that complement my writing are hating on these characters. I didn't mean for you to start hating Freya, I just meant for her to have a journey of her own.**

 **I loved making Caroline stronger and faster and more powerful, but when I made that decision all I got was hate for it. And when I made the decision to turn her back, all I got was hate for it. And everyone who liked that storyline? Only a few people told me they liked it. When you don't like something, you tell me, and when you do like something, only some of you speak up. And don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for all of you, but I'm just not the kind of writer who can do this on their own.**

 **I have so many more daydreams, none of which I'm exploring because I'm putting all my energy into this one, which died a long time ago.**

 **If any of you would like to know how this was to end, please feel free to PM me, and I'll tell you my ideas. If any of you have a drabble idea or a daydream of your own that you think I can do justice to, I'd like to try. In the meantime, I will be putting more energy into my new Klaroline/Kalijah/Kennett fanfiction "Somewhere Only We Know" which I invite you all to read if you wish.**

 **This will be the last update of this story. Thank you all so much for reading. I'm sure I'll see you soon.**

 **With love, Izzy xxx**


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